se, 143 m. S. of Lyons on the railway between that city and
Marseilles. Pop. (1906) 35,356. Avignon, which lies on the left bank of the
Rhone, a few miles above its confluence with the Durance, occupies a large
oval-shaped area not fully populated, and covered in great part by parks
and gardens. A suspension bridge leads over the river to
Villeneuve-les-Avignon (_q.v._), and a little higher up, a picturesque
ruined bridge of the 12th century, the Pont Saint-Benezet, projects into
the stream. Only four of the eighteen piles are left; on one of them stands
the chapel of Saint-Benezet, a small Romanesque building. Avignon is still
encircled by the ramparts built by the popes in the 14th century, which
offer one of the finest examples of medieval fortification in existence.
The walls, which are of great strength, are surmounted by machicolated
battlements, flanked at intervals by thirty-nine massive towers and pierced
by several gateways, three of which date from the 14th century. The whole
is surrounded by a line of pleasant boulevards. The life of the town is
almost confined to the Place de l'Hotel de Ville and the Cours de la
Republique, which leads out of it and extends to the ramparts. Elsewhere
the streets are narrow, quiet, and, for the most part, badly paved. At the
northern extremity of the town a precipitous rock, the Rocher des Doms,
rises from the river's edge and forms a plateau stretching southwards
nearly to the Place de l'Hotel de Ville. Its summit is occupied by a public
garden and, to the south of this, by the cathedral of Notre-Dame des Doms
and the Palace of the Popes. The cathedral is a Romanesque building, mainly
of the 12th century, the most prominent feature of which is the gilded
statue of the Virgin which surmounts the western tower. Among the many
works of art in the interior, the most beautiful is the mausoleum of Pope
John XXII., a masterpiece of Gothic [v.03 p.0064] carving of the 14th
century. The cathedral is almost dwarfed by the Palace of the Popes, a
sombre assemblage of buildings, which rises at its side and covers a space
of more than 1 1/4 acres. Begun in 1316 by John XXII., it was continued by
succeeding popes until 1370, and is in the Gothic style; in its
construction everything has been sacrificed to strength, and though the
effect is imposing, the place has the aspect rather of a fortress than of a
palace. It was for long used as a barracks and prison, to the exigencies of
which the fi