Avignon: The City of Popes

Fields and fields of lavender welcomed us as we drove through Provence in the south of France. We smelled wild thyme and lavender in the air and heard the symphony of cicadas perched on red-tile roofs.

Provence means dazzling light and rugged, rocky countryside interspersed with vineyards, fields of lavender and olive groves. The Romans staked their first claim here and left riches behind; Van Gogh and Cezanne taught us to see it through their eyes.

From the minute I stepped into its walled gates, I fell in love with Avignon, my favorite city in Provence. Avignon arrested my senses with its little quaint squares reminiscent of Italy, cobblestoned streets lined with mansions and convents. The flowers and trees dotting the landscape of the Palace and Cathedral gardens murmured words of love and affection. The engaging and fascinating cafes lining the streets pulsated with life, as if compelling me to sample the culture and history of the city.

Strolling along the Rhone River gave me a high as its breeze communed with my system. Day in and day out, I discovered, Avignon was simply a balm for the soul.

At the foot of the ramparts, two steps from the Palais de Papes, the Place de L’Horloge (the theater and town hall overlooking a vast square shaded by trees and cafes), and the train station, one will discover Avignon Grand Hotel, a hotel complex where one will find charm, elegance, space, tranquility. The hotel, with its Mediterranean furnishings in soothing colors of yellow and orange Provencal fabrics, is replete with modern and traditional services. Our suite was a two-story edifice of luxury with all the comforts of home. A fine botlle of wine, brie and camembert cheeses with raspberry preserves and french bread were perfect to cap the evening. Our huge bedrooms had white duck feather comforters and huge pillows for a good night’s rest

The early morning sun streaked into the ocher-hued living room energizing us to tour the magnificent city of Avignon. After a wonderful breakfast of banana pancakes, cereals, cheeses, french pastries and aromatic coffee, we put on our best walking shoes, crossed the street and found ourselves in this city of splendor. I found the most fabulous shoes, jeans and shades in the quaint shops that lined the cobblestone streets.

Art works, colorful rugs and baskets, perfumeries, pillows, freshly harvested lavender created an exhilarating fragrance in the air as quilts and stuffed toys were filled with the floral sweetness. L’Occitane and Yves Roches shops (selling soaps, oils and fragrances) were aplenty and we enjoyed sampling all their lotions, sunblocks and colognes!

Avignon is built on an outcrop in a bend in the Rhone. The Rocher des Doms was much coveted as a strategic defense site, and therefore was the object of many invasions and sieges up to the 10th century. Two centuries later, when Avignon belonged to the Counts of Provence, the town went through a period of prosperity, and industry and commerce flourished and the city walls were built. In 1348 Clement VI bought the town from Queen Jane. Over a period of 100 years nine Popes lived here: Clement V, John XXI, Benedict XII, Clement VI, Innocent VI, Urban V, Gregory X, Clement VII, and Benedict XIII.

In those days, palaces, churches, convents and fine buildings sprung up. Many artists were drawn to the city, and thus it became the artistic capital of the west. At the time of the revolution, Avignon was joined to France. The town grew in size as agriculture, tourism, and communication developed. In due time, Avignon became a university town and a congress center.

Palais Des Papes

The palace is a veritable maze of galleries, chambers, chapels and passages, now empty and deserted. That is why the visitor must try to imagine what it was like at the time of the popes. Picture its luxurious furnishing, sumptuously-painted decoration, the discreet comings and goings of prelates and servants, the changing of the guards in dress uniform, the cardinals, princes and ambassadors arriving and departing, the pilgrims gathered in the courtyard waiting to receive the pope’s blessing or to see him leave on his white mule; the litigants and magistrates creating commotion around the pontifical court and myriad other activities.

Only two popes were directly concerned with the building of the Palais des Papes at Avignon: Benedict XII and Clement VI. This princely residence counts among the largest of its time with an area of 15,000 square meters. It is both a fortress and a palace and is made up of two buildings joined together; the Palais Vieux to the north and the Palais Neuf to the South; its construction lasted 30 years. The Cistercian, Benedict XII, brought up in contempt of luxury, had the old episcopal palace razed and entrusted to his compariot Pierre Poisson the task of building a vast residence which would lend itself to prayer and be well defended.

The Palais Vieux thus acquired the appearance of an austere fortress. Clement VI, a great prince of the church, artist and prodigy, ordered Jean de Louvres, an architect from the lle de France to carry out the expansions of the palace. However, artists directed by Simone Martini and then Matteo Giovanetti sumptuously decorated the different rooms and notably the pope’s private apartments. It was simply awesome to experience the centuries-old infrastructure reeking with tales of history and culture.

Pont St. Benezet

Most memorable points of interest in Avignon include the Pont Saint Benezet Bridge which many a city dweller remembers singing about during their nursery-rhyme days. The bridge was amputated in midstream in the 17th century when a storm washed away half of the original 900 yards. It’s definitely worth strolling along, to enjoy the views and pay a visit to the tiny Chapelle St. Nicholas which juts out onto the river.

The Pont St. Benezet commemorated a shepherd and an angel. Benezet was a young shepherd in the Vivarais to whom an angel appeared in 1177, instructing him to come to Avignon and build a bridge over the Rhone. To convince the townspeople, Benezet picked up a huge boulder single-handedly, whereas normally it would have taken 30 men to lift it, and set it down as a foundation stone for the bridge. The town’s dignitaries witnessed this miracle, and Benezet was proclaimed a saint.

The Ramparts

Built between 1355 and about 1370, under the pontificates of Innocent VI and Urban V, the Avignon ramparts are among the best preserved in France. They are also among the longest, stretching almost four kilometers. In the beginning they were pierced by 12 gates, later by only seven. Today four of these gates are still standing: St. Lazare, St. Michel, St. Roch and La Ligne. This long wall was defended by a succession of round towers and more numerous square ones, all open towards the interior. In fact, the walls of Avignon were only the first line of defense, in front of the formidable fortress of the Palais des Papes. Because of this, the walls were never a first-class defense, from a military point of view. The ditches were filled during the last century and certain parts of the walls were heavily restored by Viollet le Duc after 1860. The walls of Avignon were built from soft limestone, also known as "pierre du midi," which is abundant throughout the region. "Time has given to these so perfect, so well jointed, so beautifully polished stones a uniform color of dried leaves, which further enchances their beauty," wrote Stendhal.

The installation of the papacy within its walls from 1309 rapidly made this small feudal city into the capital of Christendom, and one of the most flourishing towns of the known world. Nothing suggested this town would have such a great destiny. This long period of presence of the papacy had completely changed the face of the town. The pontifical court had conferred on the town and unequalled property in every direction, and numerous monuments remain witness to this glorious period.

Being the city of art and culture, Avignon truly stirs the senses.

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For more information about Avignon Grand Hotel, call 33(0) 4 90 809 809 or log on at www.avignon-grandhotel.com. Take the train from Paris to Avignon, the train stop is three minutes away from Avignon Grand Hotel. E-mail the author at Miladay@pacific.net.ph.