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Avignon
From the ramparts, you can look down on the Pont St-Bénezet.
This is the bridge that inspired the song "Sur Le Pont
d'Avignon."
According to legend, the bridge was built after God suggested
the idea to Bénezet (then a
shepherd boy) in 1177, although archæologists
believe that an earlier bridge crossed the Rhône in
the same location during Roman times. In any event, the new bridge was a major
asset for the city, since it was the only bridge across the river between the
Mediterranean and Lyon, and its founder went on to sainthood.
Sieges and river currents destroyed
portions of the bridge over the next few hundred years, and the city fathers
stopped rebuilding it after 1668. The bridge once had 22 arches;
today, there are just four arches and a chapel that was enlarged in the 1500s. You can walk out onto the surviving
arches of the Pont St-Bénezet for a rather steep €3 admission charge.
MS Maribelle
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