Recent reviews Avignon
[magdadh, 15/10/2011] The old Avignon sits its on the banks of the Rhone, surrounded by three miles of (restored) medieval ramparts. The whole of the old town is a delight to simply walk about, climbing onto the walls and wandering among the charming streets and alleyways of which many date to Avignon's medieval heyday, but the ramparts are by far the best. You can walk large stretches of the ramparts, with fabulous views into the old city and (on the river side especially) outside, but they are even better to look at then to look from. Avignon's ramparts are simply picture-perfect storybook fortifications, with ro
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[magdadh, 15/10/2011] 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 jutti
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[magdadh, 15/10/2011] The medieval quarter of Avignon is dominated by the gigantic Palais des Papes, the Popes' Palace. It's the largest Gothic palace in the world, inhuman in the scale of its ten-foot thick walls and vast chambers. The Place du Palais is also a vast, stone-covered, empty, windy space (or maybe it only appeared windy because Mistral was blowing on the day of our visit) over which the Palais casts its opressive shadow. Behind the Palais, the pretty 19th century Jardins de Doms stretch across the most ancient part of the city, now criss-crossed with walking paths and decorated with fountains and stat
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[hullaila, 26/11/2007] I went to Avignon in winter 2004 and of course I could not missed to visit the city main attraction: Les Palais des Papes.
The Popes Palace, world heritage for humanity, is one of the most visited monuments not just in the Provence region but in the entire French territory. It counts over 600,000 visitors every year.
This huge building (it covers a surface of 15.000 m2) was both a fortress and a palace, one of the finest example of gothic architecture.
Its construction started in XIV century; the north-east side or Old palace was entrusted to Pierre de Poisson by Benedict XII, while the
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