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ABOVE: Avignon's Palace of the Popes was the
headquarters of the Catholic Church in the 14th Century after the papacy was
moved from Rome to France.
Avignon, France
Continued
from: Viviers
Save on
hotel rates in Avignon
Venere's Avignon
hotel listings include many properties in the historic center.
The Viking Burgundy left Viviers during the early morning
hours and passed through five locks in the next 30 miles or 50 km, reaching
Avignon at 8 a.m..
Avignon is a city of 90,000 in a metropolitan area of 400,000,
but most of its sights are located within the historic center. The city is
classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, thanks to its well-preserved
medieval walls and some 150 listed historical monuments.
Although the city's history goes back at least 6,000 years, its
heyday was during the 1300s when seven popes made Avignon the seat of the Roman
Catholic Church.
The Palace of the Popes was the highlight of the
Viking Burgundy's morning walking tour. Our group spent nearly two hours in
the Palais des Papes, which grew from a bishop's palace into a massive
fortified complex over the next 150 years. Unfortunately, most of its original
furnishings were lost or burned over the centuries, but some of the rooms are
quite impressive: among them, the bedchamber of the popes, whose walls are
decorated with 14th Century frescoes of birds, squirrels, hunters, fishermen,
and vines against a sky-blue background.
During the afternoon (which had no scheduled cruise activities),
my son and I walked to the
Pont d'Avigon
and found our way through a door in the ramparts that led up to a viewing
terrace and the Rocher des Domes, the city's public gardens on a bluff
overlooking the Rhône. From there, it was a short
walk past the Palace of the Popes to the city center, which offered plenty of
opportunities for strolling, shopping, and buying pains au chocolat at
pastry shops.
For more
information on Avigon, the Papal Palace, and the city's world-renowned festival
of theatre, dance, and music, see:
Cruise Photos: Avignon
europeforvisitors.com
These are from the 169 images in my Viking Burgundy
Photo Gallery.
Office de Tourisme
Avignon
Popes' Palace (Palais des Papes)
Festival
d'Avigon
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Durant
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