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Walls of Avignon
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Walls of Avignon
The walls of Avignon (French: Les Remparts d'Avignon) are a series of defensive stone walls that surround the city of Avignon in the south of France. They were built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history.
The current walls replaced an earlier double set of defensive walls that had been completed in the first two decades of the 13th century. During the Albigensian Crusade the town sided with the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII but in 1226, after a three-month siege by Louis VIII of France, Avignon capitulated and was forced to dismantle the earlier walls and fill in the moats. Beginning in around 1231, the earlier walls were rebuilt and although they have not survived, their path is preserved in the street plan of the city.
In 1309 Pope Clement V moved to Avignon and under the papacy the town expanded outside the limits of the earlier city walls. From the 1350s during the Hundred Years' War the town became vulnerable to pillage by marauding bands of mercenaries and in 1357 under Innocent VI, the fifth Avignon pope, work began on the construction of a new set of city walls to enclose the expanded town. The walls took nearly 20 years to complete.
The walls stretch for 4.3 km (2.7 mi) and enclose an area of 150 ha (370 acres). There were originally twelve gates controlling access to the city but this number was reduced to seven when the fortifications were modified between 1481 and 1487 during the French Wars of Religion. There are now 15 vehicular entrances and 11 pedestrian entrances.
Historians had assumed that during the Roman period Avignon would have been defended by a wall, but this is now considered unlikely. A large amount of rescue archaeology has taken place in Avignon since the 1960s, especially around the Place de l'Horloge. This has revealed many details of the Roman town but no evidence has been found for a defensive wall.
In late antiquity a rudimentary wall was erected by reusing material from Roman monuments. It was centred on the Rocher des Doms and enclosed a much smaller area than the Roman town. This wall is mentioned by the Gallo-Roman historian Gregory of Tours when describing the siege of the town by the Frankish king, Clovis I, in around 500 AD.
In the 12th century the town enjoyed a degree of independence and became very prosperous. A bridge was built across the Rhône, the Pont Saint-Bénézet whose construction is traditionally dated to between 1177 and 1185. There are no surviving records of when the first city wall was built but historians have suggested dates between 1060 and 1176.
In the first two decades of the 13th century the town added a second wall with a second moat outside the earlier wall. The two walls were parallel and separated by around 30 m (33 yd). Built into the outer wall were a series semi-circular towers. Access to the town was provided by twelve pairs of gates, each pair consisting of a gate in the inner wall and another in the outer. Water for the moats came from the Sorgue through the Canal de Vaucluse. After 1229, additional water was also provided from the Durance by the Canal de l'Hôpital (La Durançole). The double walls extended around a perimeter of approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) and enclosed an area of around 45 ha (110 acres).
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Walls of Avignon
The walls of Avignon (French: Les Remparts d'Avignon) are a series of defensive stone walls that surround the city of Avignon in the south of France. They were built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history.
The current walls replaced an earlier double set of defensive walls that had been completed in the first two decades of the 13th century. During the Albigensian Crusade the town sided with the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII but in 1226, after a three-month siege by Louis VIII of France, Avignon capitulated and was forced to dismantle the earlier walls and fill in the moats. Beginning in around 1231, the earlier walls were rebuilt and although they have not survived, their path is preserved in the street plan of the city.
In 1309 Pope Clement V moved to Avignon and under the papacy the town expanded outside the limits of the earlier city walls. From the 1350s during the Hundred Years' War the town became vulnerable to pillage by marauding bands of mercenaries and in 1357 under Innocent VI, the fifth Avignon pope, work began on the construction of a new set of city walls to enclose the expanded town. The walls took nearly 20 years to complete.
The walls stretch for 4.3 km (2.7 mi) and enclose an area of 150 ha (370 acres). There were originally twelve gates controlling access to the city but this number was reduced to seven when the fortifications were modified between 1481 and 1487 during the French Wars of Religion. There are now 15 vehicular entrances and 11 pedestrian entrances.
Historians had assumed that during the Roman period Avignon would have been defended by a wall, but this is now considered unlikely. A large amount of rescue archaeology has taken place in Avignon since the 1960s, especially around the Place de l'Horloge. This has revealed many details of the Roman town but no evidence has been found for a defensive wall.
In late antiquity a rudimentary wall was erected by reusing material from Roman monuments. It was centred on the Rocher des Doms and enclosed a much smaller area than the Roman town. This wall is mentioned by the Gallo-Roman historian Gregory of Tours when describing the siege of the town by the Frankish king, Clovis I, in around 500 AD.
In the 12th century the town enjoyed a degree of independence and became very prosperous. A bridge was built across the Rhône, the Pont Saint-Bénézet whose construction is traditionally dated to between 1177 and 1185. There are no surviving records of when the first city wall was built but historians have suggested dates between 1060 and 1176.
In the first two decades of the 13th century the town added a second wall with a second moat outside the earlier wall. The two walls were parallel and separated by around 30 m (33 yd). Built into the outer wall were a series semi-circular towers. Access to the town was provided by twelve pairs of gates, each pair consisting of a gate in the inner wall and another in the outer. Water for the moats came from the Sorgue through the Canal de Vaucluse. After 1229, additional water was also provided from the Durance by the Canal de l'Hôpital (La Durançole). The double walls extended around a perimeter of approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) and enclosed an area of around 45 ha (110 acres).
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