Detailed review by magdadh
magdadh
Perth, United Kingdom90%
The Avignon bridge, or St Benezet's bridge was built in the 12th century to connect Avignon with Villeneuve-les-Avignon. It was the only bridge on the Rhone south of Lyon and the only one between the royal France and the papal Comtat Venaissin, thus a grand fortified gatehouse that leads directly into the ramparts at the Avignon end. The bridge suffered frequent damage from floods and wind, to eventually collapse by late 17th century. Only four of the original twenty-two arches remain, now a museum with an entry charge.
The ruin of the bridge is certainly a picturesque one, the arches jutting out into the Rhone between the walled city and the Barthelasse Island. It's not, however, a sight of a supremely special beauty and its attraction lies in the cultural connotations rather than in the structure itself. Most British and French children know the “Sur le pont d'Avignon song (originally, probably “Sous le pont... as apparently dancing would have taken place under the arches rather then on the bridge, though considering that for example London Bridge had even houses built on it, one may wonder whether the notion of dancing on the bridge is as outlandish as it may appear to us). For Poles, there are few more wafers in this Pont-d'Avignon-cultural-l ayer-cake, as we have a 1941 poem by K.K. Baczynski which was later sung by the intense diva of the Polish cabaret scene, Ewa Demarczyk, so I had two tunes to hum while examining the bridge.
Pont Saint Bénezet7
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