Walk the arches
Out to the broken end.
Rolf Kranz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Giles Laurent — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hbarrison — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jean-Pol GRANDMONT — CC BY 4.0 · Jean-Pol GRANDMONT — CC BY 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Pont Saint-Bénézet, better known as the Pont d'Avignon, is a medieval bridge over the Rhône at the northern edge of Avignon's old town, in Provence in southern France, about 400 m in a straight line from the town centre. A first bridge linking Avignon to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon was built between 1177 and 1185 and destroyed in 1226. From 1234 it was rebuilt in stone with 22 arches, about 900 m long and less than 5 m wide. Floods kept bringing arches down, and the bridge was abandoned in the 17th century. Four arches and the gatehouse on the Avignon side survive. The bridge is known across France through the song «Sur le pont d'Avignon». A small chapel sits on the second pier, and visitors can walk out along the arches to the broken end above the water, with views of the river, the Palais des Papes and the town walls. The surviving arches were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 with the old centre of Avignon. The finest view of the whole bridge is from the Rocher des Doms garden above it, or from the far bank of the river on the Île de la Barthelasse.
Out to the broken end.
On the second pier.
Best view of the bridge.
Rhône riverside, Avignon, Vaucluse, France
Floods brought down its arches and it was abandoned in the 17th century.
From the Rocher des Doms garden or the Île de la Barthelasse.
