Location: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Map
Known for: Avignon's papacy during which the residence of pope was moved here from 1309 to 1378
Avignon is a city and commune in Provence,
southern France, on the east bank of the Rhône, with a population of
90,597 (as of January 1, 2020), around 15,000 of whom live within
the city walls. Avignon is the seat of the prefecture and the
largest city in the Vaucluse department.
Since Avignon was
the papal seat from 1309 to 1376 – and during the subsequent Western
Schism – the city is nicknamed the “City of Popes”. The old town of
Avignon with its magnificent medieval houses is surrounded by an
intact and imposing fortification wall. The old town with the Gothic
papal palace (Palais des Papes) from the 14th century, the bishop's
complex, the Rocher des Doms and the famous bridge, the Pont
Saint-Bénézet, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This bridge is on
everyone's lips because of a folk song.
Artistic and
cultural, the city is known far beyond France thanks to the Avignon
Festival. In 2000, Avignon was the European Capital of Culture.
The city of Avignon is not only an administrative center but primarily an artistic and cultural scene and a city with a rich cultural heritage. For a long time it bore the title "City of Art", which was abolished in 2005 and replaced by the title "Cities and Countries of Art and History". However, the municipality decided not to follow this new designation any further.
The high 14th-century city wall is the first thing you notice as you approach the city centre. It is approximately four kilometers long and is flanked by 39 towers and seven main gates, which are spread around the old town. The old moats have been filled up and turned into car parks, but the wall has retained its original height, providing good and safe shelter for the residents of Avignon.
There are many churches in the old town, one of which is the parish
church of St-Pierre d'Avignon, a former collegiate church built around
1356 in the south-west of the papal palace with a late Gothic façade
from the early 16th century that is well worth seeing. The beautiful
flamboyant ornaments were created by the glass painter Philippe Garcin,
who was then based in Avignon, and are superimposed on the facade as a
flat relief. The portal is adorned with precious Renaissance wooden door
panels created by the Burgundian sculptor Antoine Volard in 1551.
Other buildings worth seeing are the cardinal palaces, the town
houses with facades from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the
monasteries (Capuchin monastery), an opera house, several small squares
(place de l'Horloge) and museums (lapidarium, requiene museum , Musée
Calvet, Louis-Voulant Museum, Musée du Petit Palais, Maison Jean Vilar,
annex of the French National Library), a listed library, a listed
millinery (the only one in France), the Chapellerie Mouret, a "green
wall", which is hung on the north side of the market halls and of course
the papal palace with its cour d'honneur and its many outbuildings.
From 1309 to 1417 the papal palace was the seat of the so-called
Avignonese papacy and the residence of the popes. In 1309, the French
King Philip IV used political intrigues to elect a pope of French origin
who resided not in Rome but in Avignon. Philip thus overturned the
fundamental self-image of the Catholic Church, namely that its head
should reside in Rome, because the first pope, the apostle Peter, is
traditionally considered the first bishop of Rome. Of course, Viterbo
and Anagni also served as long-term papal residences in the course of
papal history, but more for practical reasons. Avignon became a
stumbling block to emphasize French power: starting with Clement V,
seven French-born popes took their seats in Avignon. In 1377 Gregory XI.
returned his residence to Rome, which the French cardinals, however, did
not recognize, who elected an anti-pope the following year and thus
initiated the schism that gave the Catholic Church two popes, who did
not recognize each other, until the end of the Council of Constance
(1417).
The papal palace was mainly built by Benedict XII. and
Clement VI. built, the third and fourth French popes. Clement VI. also
bought the city of Avignon from Queen Joan of Naples. The city remained
part of the Papal States until the French Revolution.
Jean
Froissart described the palace as "the most beautiful and overwhelming
estate in the world". The palace was built on the Rocher des Dom, the
only hill that was close enough to the Rhone and on which the Notre-Dame
des Dom cathedral also stands.
Leaving the old town and heading towards the embankments, one arrives at
Avignon's famous stone bridge, the Pont Saint-Bénézet. Of its twenty-two
arches built across the Rhône in the 14th century, only four arches
survived the flood of 1668, so the bridge today ends in the river. The
building, which replaced a wooden structure first erected in the 12th
century and renovated several times, became known through the folk song
Sur le pont d'Avignon (Eng. On the Bridge of Avignon). The origin of
this song, which was originally called Sous (German under) le pont
d'Avignon, lies in the time when the bridge still led to the Île de la
Barthelasse. took place under the arches of the bridge.
The
14th-century Palais des Papes and the 12th-century Saint-Bénézet bridge
are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The city of Avignon has 26 parks and public gardens, totaling around two
hundred hectares of green space.
Gardens and parks include:
Jardin du Rocher des Doms
Square Agricol Perdiguier
Garden of
Carmes
Square Saint Ruf
Square Louis Gross
Parc Chico Mendes
Avignon has several cinemas, including two Utopia cinemas and two
independent cinemas (Art et Essai, Cinéma de recherche). The first
consists of four rooms and is located at La Manutention, the second has
only one room and is located on Rue de la République.
The city
also has numerous theatres, an opera and several art galleries.
Avignon has 12 libraries with a total of more than 500,000 books. The most important of these is the Ceccano Mediatheque, set up in the Cardinal's Palace of Ceccano and housing more than 250,000 media units (books, manuscripts, prints). Of particular importance are valuable manuscripts from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and a collection of religious iconography.
In addition to the Palais des Papes and its many buildings, the city of
Avignon has several small museums offering different collections:
Musée Calvet, important art museum in the city (collection of
paintings, sculptures, drawings, objets d'art) supported by the Calvet
Foundation
Musée du Petit Palais, offers exceptional collections of
paintings from the Italian Primitives and the Avignon School
Lapidarium, offers ancient collections
Requien Museum (Natural
History Museum)
Hôtel de Caumont, with the Lambert collection
Other museums include the Musée de l'Œuvre, Musée du Mont-de-piété,
Palais du Roure, Maison Jean-Vilar (belonging to the National Library of
France), Musée Angladon and the Musée Louis-Vouland
In the 14th century there was a grand premiere of a mystery play
performed in a native language. On November 27, 1372, Philippe de
Mézières, in consultation with Pope Gregory XI, had a performance
entitled Legenda Presentationis Beate Maria performed in the Franciscan
Cordeliers Church in Avignon. Before the mass there were pageants and
processions, with musicians dressed as angels and singing actors
performing a Provençal play called ad exitandum populum ad devotionem.
The theatrical performances had changed style over time and from now
on were also to be played inside. They were recorded in the Jeu-de-Paume
hall by Sieur Daniel Herbouillet, rue de la Bouquerie. This was then
sold to Nicolas Mignard, who had Molière to visit there between 1655 and
1658.
The Avignon Comedy Theater was the first building in the
city specifically constructed for the staging of plays. It was put into
operation from 1734 to 1824, designed by Thomas Lainée. One of the
directors was Fabre d'Églantine. According to the Englishman James
Butler, then Duke of Ormonde, it was the most beautiful theater in
France:
"To make the city even more pleasant, I helped build a
theater hall that is certainly the funniest in France. It attracts
country theater companies and we then have comedy shows for more than
six months of the year.”
– James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
It was replaced by a new theater built on the Place de l'Horloge in
place of the disused Benedictine monastery of Saint-Laurent. The first
performance was given on October 30, 1825. Destroyed by fire on January
30, 1846, it was rebuilt on the same site and completed in 1847. Joseph
Girard, curator of the Musée Calvet, considered it the most outstanding
19th-century building in Avignon.
The Avignon Festival has been held every July since 1947, with
numerous theatrical, dance and song performances. In addition to the
"in" performances sponsored by public institutions, there are also
hundreds of "off" performances by private theater groups. During the
festival, the streets come alive, especially rue des Terniers, Place
d'Horloge and Palais des Papes square.
In the 1940s, as part of a
modern art exhibition held in the Grand Chapel of the Palais des Papes,
the art critic Christian Zervos and the poet René Char asked the actor,
director and theater manager Jean Vilar to perform Murder in the
Cathedral, staged in 1945. Having failed to live up to expectations,
Vilar proposed three other first productions: The Tragedy of King
Richard II (Shakespeare), a play little recognized in France, La
Terrasse de midi by the also unknown author Maurice Clavel and The Story
of Tobias and Sarah by Paul Claudel.
After consultation with the
municipality, the main courtyard of the Papal Palace became the setting
for the event Une semaine d'Art en Avignon, which took place from
September 4th to 10th, 1947 and from which the festival developed. 4800
spectators initially experienced seven events in three different
locations (Court of Honor of the Papal Palace, City Theater, Pope Urban
V's orchard).
In addition to the big festival, the city offers
numerous other events:
Les Hivernales d'Avignon (contemporary
dance festival)
Avignon/New York & Avignon Film Festivals
(Euro-American film gathering, independent film festival)
Avignon
Jazz Festival
Sport in Avignon takes place in an organized form as a mass sport in
around 120 clubs.
Like all major French cities, Avignon has
numerous sports facilities (several stadiums and municipal baths, ice
rinks, bowling centers, golf courses, dōjōs, etc.). A variety of sports
can be practiced on the facilities, whether public or private. The major
sports venues in the city are the Parc des Sports, the Stade de
Saint-Ruf, the Cosec Moretti, the Palais Omnisports Champfleury, the
Palais de la Glace (Ice Palace) and the Hippodrome Roberty.
The
municipality of Avignon is also the birthplace of some sports
personalities such as the Formula 1 driver Jean Alesi or the footballer
Cédric Carrasso, who played in the youth department of Avignon Football
84 before moving to Olympique Marseille.
Numerous sporting events
are organized every year, such as the Tour des Remparts or the 10 km de
la Cité des Papes, but also football tournaments, boules, boxing,
gymnastics, rugby, rock 'n' roll (dance), in-line skating events, etc.
When the Palais des Papes was built in the mid-fourteenth century, Italian artists such as Simone Martini and Mateo Giovanetti came to Avignon. To train young French painters, they founded the Avignon School, which is considered the starting point of Renaissance painting in France and painters such as B. Enguerrand Quarton produced. One of the most important works is the Pietà from Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, which today hangs in the Louvre.
Avignon was considered the center of the Félibrige movement. Théodore Aubanel and Joseph Roumanille lived in the city. Frédéric Mistral studied here and published his Mireia. For this reason, Avignon is often referred to as the "brain of the Félibrige". Félix Gras lived on the rue Sainte-Praxède, which now bears his name, very close to his brother-in-law's library on the rue Saint Agricol, and was considered "the undisputed leader of the second Félibrige generation". At the founding meeting of the movement in Font-Ségugne, the members decided to publish a magazine, the first issue of which was called l'Armana prouvençau pèr lou bèl an de Diéu 1855, adouba e publica de la man di felibre. The magazines were first printed in Avignon until the middle of the 20th century, and later in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. From 1891 to 1899 the movement also published the weekly newspaper L'Aïoli, journal hebdomadaire, édité à Avignon, Palais du Roure.
The "real" Avignonese gastronomy is typically Mediterranean and is
particularly characterized by the use of olive oil, onions and a wide
range of aromatic herbs. The use of olive or other oil is also typical
of Occitan cuisine, unlike that of northern France, which mainly uses
butter.
With a wide variety of recipes, Avignon is also
represented in Provençal cuisine. A lot of vegetables are used,
especially legumes such as lentils, beans, chickpeas, but also tomatoes,
artichokes, aubergines and courgettes. Characteristic of Provence is the
use of cereals such as spelled, but also spices such as garlic and
thyme. The typically Provençal can be found in numerous local dishes
that are still prepared today by the Avignonese: daube, aioli,
ratatouille, spelled soup, etc.
There are at least five typical
Avignonese specialties which, while not exclusive to the Avignon area,
nonetheless have a clear Avignonese identity. Traditional specialties
include steamed allis shad, Avignonese stave, papeton d'aubergine, the
crespeou and the berlingots. Modern specialties include the navarin en
avignonaise (lamb stew with oranges, olives and vegetables) and the
papaline d'Avignon (a dessert consisting of oregano liqueur encased in
chocolate coatings).
During the papal period of Avignon, the Vinea Vespalis ("Bishop's
Vineyard") on the Plain-de-Lunel was one of the most famous wine-growing
areas within the city walls. It belonged to the canons of Avignon until
July 11, 1364. On that date, Pope Urban V allowed his brother Anglic de
Grimoard to dispose of the vineyard at his own will. In a bull, the pope
authorized him to exempt his vassals on the Vinea Vespalis from all tax
burdens and expropriated the cathedral chapter of his vines in order to
grant them to his youngest brother. The other vineyards are located in
the eastern "Grands Jardins" district, an undeveloped area between the
city walls, and in southern Champfleury, which served as a plague
cemetery in 1348.
But these vines, which were cultivated as high
vines, have long been sufficient to supply the papal city. Each pope
supplied himself with local wines as well as other wines that had come
to Avignon via the river route. Finally, a vineyard called Grand Avignon
was planted. In the Comtat Venaissin, the wines of Malaucène,
Bédarrides, Valréas, Carpentras, Apt and of course Châteauneuf-du-Pape
prevailed. Vineyards from the Languedoc such as Saint-Gilles, Tavel,
Bagnols-sur-Cèze or Villeneuve-lès-Avignon supplied the papal wine
cellars. Wines from Manosque, Toulon and Saint-Rémy came to Provence.
Certain types of wine came up or down the Rhone, such as the
Cante-Perdrix, the famous Beaucaire wine, the Clos de Vougeot and the
Hermitage.
Avignon currently lays claim to the title of “Capital
of the Côtes du Rhône” as the city is home to the Hôtel de Rochegude,
the headquarters of the Inter Rhône, which is the umbrella organization
for the wine associations of the Côtes du Rhône and the AOC de la vallée
du Rhône.
By plane
Marseille Airport (IATA: MRS) is easily accessible with
connections to numerous international destinations. Low-cost connections
are handled in the new Terminal MP2. From there it is about 80
kilometers to Avignon, which takes one to one and a half hours by train
(change trains twice) to the center of Avignon.
From Lyon
Saint-Exupéry Airport (IATA: LYS), 240 kilometers away, where various
direct connections from German-speaking countries land, there are direct
TGVs that reach Avignon TGV train station in less than an hour,
Avignon-Centre in one and a half hours.
Aéroport Avignon -
Provence Airport (IATA: AVN) is located southwest of the city center.
There are no regular flight connections as of 2020, it is used for
general aviation.
By train
Avignon TGV train station, 4
kilometers south of the city centre. The high-speed trains from Paris
(2:45 hours) - Lyon - Valence and on to Marseille or Nîmes -
Montpellier, which require reservations, stop there. There are also
individual direct connections from Geneva (a good 3 hours), Basel (4:45
hours) or Strasbourg, and even once a day from Frankfurt am Main (a good
7 hours). From the TGV train station you can get to the city center by
bus or regional train (TER).
Train station for intercity and regional
trains: Gare Avignon Centre, on Bvd Saint Roch near the old town.
Selected (not quite as fast) TGVs also stop there.
By bus
The
local transport company ORIZO ensures public transport in the city
itself as well as in the region.
On the street
The city can be
reached from the A7 Rhône Valley motorway (Paris - Lyon - Avignon -
Marseille) via the symbol: AS 23 Avignon Nord and via the symbol: AS 24
Avignon-Sud, from the A9 (Orange - Nîmes) west of the Rhône via the
symbol: AS 23 Remoulins and from there on the N100 via
Villeneuve-lès-Avignon.
The D570N heads south, towards Tarascon -
Arles - Camargue.
Parking is best outside the old town ring
around the Boulevard Saint-Roch resp. the arterial roads, in the walled
old town area the streets are narrow and parking spaces are sparse. From
the north you can park under the Palais des Papes, from the free car
park on the Ile de Piot there is also a free shuttle bus that runs at
frequent intervals.
By boat
Transport and Rhône cruise ships
occasionally dock at the docks, and there is a free ferry service from
the Quai de la Ligne across to the Ile de la Barthelasse.
The local transport company ORIZO ensures public transport in the city itself as well as in the region. After a tram had existed until the 1930s, the first new line of a tram for local public transport was opened in 2019, which is to be gradually expanded and supplemented by a second line.
Marché des Halles, Place Pie. Tel.: +33 (0)4 90 27 15 15. Offer of
fresh local produce. Open: Tue-Sun, from 6.00 a.m. Edit info
The
Marché aux Fleurs every Saturday morning on the Place des Carmes.
On
Sunday mornings 08.00-13.00 the Marché aux Puces (traditional flea
market) is also held on the Place des Carmes.
The origins of the Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse date back to 1303. After the university was closed in 1793, it was reopened in 1963/64 with the faculties of natural sciences and literature.
As everywhere in southern France, the security situation is largely unproblematic. Valuables should not be left in the vehicle because of car break-ins. In the crowded markets (and everywhere where tourists throng) there is a risk of pickpocketing.
Center Hospitalier Avignon, located in the south of the city and has a developed emergency care.
Office de Tourisme d'Avignon, 41, cours Jean Jaures. Tel.: +33 4
32743274, fax: +33 4 90 82 95 03, email: information@ot-avignon.fr.
La Poste, Cours du President Kennedy, by the bus station.
Avignon is located at the confluence of the Rhône and the Durance, which flows along the south of the municipality and also forms the border with the Bouches-du-Rhône department. The Rhône is to the west of the municipality and forms the border with the Gard department.
To the east and north are the municipalities of Caumont-sur-Durance,
Morières-lès-Avignon, Le Pontet and Sorgues.
To the west, Avignon
borders on the communes of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and Les Angles, which
belong to the Gard department, while to the south lies the
Bouches-du-Rhône department with the communes of Barbentane, Rognonas,
Châteaurenard and Noves.
The nearest major cities are Orange (to
the north), Nîmes and Montpellier (to the south-west), Arles (to the
south), Salon-de-Provence and Marseille (to the south-east).
The region in which Avignon is located is very rich in limestone. The
"molasse burdigalienne", from which the current city wall of Avignon was
built, is particularly common.
The most important calcareous
elevation of the Urgonian type is the Rocher des Doms within the city
walls. The calcareous massif is distributed around the commune (Massif
des Angles, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, Alpilles) and is partly the result
of the oceanization of the Ligurian-Provençal depression that followed
the movement of the Corsican-Sardinian continental block.
Another
elevation of Avignon is the wooded hill of Montfavet to the east of the
commune.
The Rhône Valley has old alluvial soils: much of the
soil there is covered by a loose deposit made up of sandy silt. This is
more or less colored by pebbles, mainly made of silicate rock. The
islands of the Rhône, including the Île de la Barthelasse, were formed
by the accumulation of alluvial deposits and human intervention. The
relief is not very pronounced, but the mounds that have formed are able
to protect the islands adequately in the event of high tide.
The
soils around the city are mainly clay, silt, sand and lime.
As
evidenced by the appearance of fissures in the calcareous substrate,
there have been tectonic activities in different geological ages that
have triggered earthquakes. The last earthquake of any significant
magnitude occurred on June 11, 1909. Traces of this can still be seen in
the city center and most clearly on the bell tower of the Augustinian
church on Rue Carreterie, which is slightly tilted as a result of the
earthquake.
The Rhône runs along the western outskirts of the city but is divided
into two arms: the "little Rhône" or "dead arm" is spoken of for the
part that touches Avignon and the "big Rhône" or "living arm" for that
western part touching Villeneuve-lès-Avignon in the Gard department. In
between are a series of islands, including the Île de la Barthelasse as
the largest. A canal was built parallel to the Rhône.
The banks
of the Rhône and the Isle of Barthelasse can be affected by flooding
during autumn and mid-March. Maurice Champion mentioned some of these in
1861. The 1856 flood, which destroyed part of the city walls, was one of
the most devastating. More performed in 1935 and in January 1955. The
floods are still a serious problem today, as the floods of December 2,
2003 showed. For this reason a new cartographie du risque was created.
The Durance, which flows along the southern border of the commune,
flows into the Rhône and marks the boundary with the Bouches-du-Rhône
department.
In the municipality of Avignon there are several
natural or artificial bodies of water such as the lac de Saint-Chamond
to the east of the city.
The city has numerous canals, some of
which can form a complex canal system. The canals have been built over
time and were once used to irrigate the fields and to supply the ditches
that surrounded Avignon.
In the 10th century, part of the water
of the Sorgue d'Entraigues was diverted, which today flows under the
city walls to the city center. The watercourses were called "Canal de
Vaucluse", but the inhabitants still call them "la Sorgue" or
"Sorguette". It is visible in the city center along the Rue des
Teinturiers (Cloth Dyers' Alley). It supplied the moats of the first
city walls, then the new eastern city walls of the 14th century. In the
13th century (document of 1229), part of the Durance's water was
diverted to strengthen the water supply systems of the moats and then
channeled to Bonpas. These watercourses were later called "la
Durançole". The Durançole supplied the city's western moats. They were
also used to irrigate the Montfavet farmland. In the inner city, these
watercourses are mostly hidden under the streets or the apartment
buildings and today serve as sewers.
Next to it, the Canal de
l'Hôpital (which joins the Durançole) and the Canal de Crillon (1775)
were dug, which irrigated the areas of Montfavet, Le Pontet and Vedène.
The two canals are divided into numerous "vials" (Provençal filhòlas or
fiolo). The Canal Puy (1808) was created in the same way, irrigating the
former gardens south of Avignon. All of these canals drain the waters of
the Durance and were initially used to flood and fertilize the once very
rocky soil with the limestone deposits.
The canals were also used
to drive numerous mills.
Avignon is influenced by the Mediterranean climate. Precipitation
occurs in a rhythm of four phases: two dry seasons (a short one at the
end of winter and a very long and pronounced one in summer) and two
rainy ones (one in autumn with heavy rain up to downpours and one in
spring). The summers are warm and dry under the influence of subtropical
high pressure areas, but are interrupted by sometimes violent
thunderstorms. Winters are mild with little rainfall and only infrequent
snowfall.
According to Météo-France, there are on average 45 days
per year with more than 2.5 liters of precipitation per square meter.
Overall, the annual rainfall averages 660 l/m². The average temperatures
are between 0 °C and 30 °C depending on the season. The record
temperatures since INRA station records are 40.5 °C during the 2003
European heatwave on August 5, 2003 (and 39.8 °C on August 18, 2009) and
-12.8 °C on August 5. January 1985. The meteorological values were
measured in the Agroparc d'Avignon.
The main wind is the Mistral,
which can sometimes reach wind speeds of 110 km/h. It blows between 120
and 160 days a year, with an average speed of 90 km/h per gust.
For historical and strategic reasons, Avignon has developed between the Rhône, which served as the first natural rampart, and the Rocher des Doms, which offers a wide view (or a glimpse of the Palais des Papes). The city has a mostly circular shape, which is expanded in several places. The first city walls appeared in the first century and were gradually modernized according to the needs.
Between 1790 and 1794, Montfavet was incorporated into the
municipality of Avignon. After that, Avignon broke away from
Morières-lès-Avignon in 1870 and from Le Pontet in 1925.
On May
16, 2007, the municipality of Les Angles in Gard sold thirteen hectares
of land to Avignon.
The inner city refers to the part of the city that is inside the city
walls and is referred to as intra-muros in French. As a result, the
majority of the buildings are very old, but several districts have
undergone major changes over the years (rue de la République was dug up
during the Second Empire, construction of “Haussmannised” facades,
remodeling of the Place de l'Horloge and the current City Hall in
neoclassical style , as well as the theater and the quartier de la
Balance) and various buildings (post office, Lycée Frédéric-Mistral)
were rebuilt.
In the 1960s, at the time of the establishment of
the Secteurs sauvegardés (urban protection zones), Avignon became the
subject of an important debate. The then mayor proposed a radical
renovation of the quartier de la Balance, in which about two-thirds of
the buildings would be demolished without regard to monument protection.
A compromise solution was finally found, in which part of the quarter
was actually completely rebuilt. Only the area near the Palais des Papes
was spared and received a real restoration.
In contrast to the city center with its narrow streets and large
stock of old buildings, the outskirts (extra muros) are characterized by
modern architecture. There are the following quarters:
to the
north: Saint Jean Grange d'Orel, Reine Jeanne, Neuf Peyre
in the
south: Saint Chamand, la Rocade Charles de Gaulle, La Croix des oiseaux,
Les Sources
to the east: Pont-des-deux-eaux, La Croisière
to the
west: Louis Gros, Champfleury, Monclar
The settlement of the area around Avignon dates back to the Neolithic
period, to the fourth millennium BC. First traces of settlement could be
detected on the steep rocky hill Rocher des Doms, which protected the
inhabitants from enemies as well as from regular floods of the Rhône.
A little later, the Celtoligur warriors and fishermen of the Kavaren
founded a first fortified settlement called Aouenion, which means
something like "Lord of the Waters".
Thanks to its favorable
strategic location, the Phocaeans of Marseille built a fortified river
port and a goods transshipment point (emporion) called Avenio in the
sixth or fifth century BC, which was mainly intended to receive goods
shipped downstream. The new name means something like "City of mighty
winds" and is also found on coins.
Under the from 48 B.C. At the
beginning of Roman rule, the river port was expanded and the city was
renamed Colonia Iulia Augusta Avenionesium. In addition, the city
expanded into a thriving community. Emperor Hadrian gave it the status
of a Roman colony.
Little remains of the Roman city. Only parts
of a columned hall and a forum still bear witness to the ancient
architecture. Most of the buildings were probably destroyed or built
over during the time of the popes.
Christianization may have been completed at the end of the third
century. A small Christian community existed outside the city walls,
which is considered to be the forerunner of the Abbey of Saint-Ruf.
Avignon lost its importance during the migration of peoples. Wars
and epidemics led to a decline in the population, so that only a small
area around the Rocher des Doms remained inhabited. In 737 the city
allied itself with the Saracens who were invading Provence. In
retaliation, the Battle of Avignon was conquered by Charles Martell's
troops, who burned the city to the ground.
Then came the
development of feudalism and a long period of peace. The rule of the
city was divided between the bishop, who had his own palace next to the
cathedral, and the Count of Provence, who resided on the top of the
Rocher des Doms.
In 932, the kingdoms of Provence and
Haut-Burgundy became the Kingdom of Arelat, in which Avignon became one
of the most important cities. With the incorporation of the Kingdom of
Arles into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032, Avignon and Provence came
under the German Emperor. From now on, the Rhône formed the new western
border of the empire to the kingdom of France and could only be crossed
over the old wooden bridge at Avignon.
In the twelfth century,
Avignon achieved the status of a self-governing city-republic based on
the Italian model. During this time, the first ring of walls and the St.
Bénézet Bridge were built, with which the city developed into an
important transit point in southern France.
At the time of the
Albigensian Wars, the city fought on the side of the Albigensians and
refused King Louis VIII passage in 1226, which led to the siege of
Avignon. Avignon was starved for three weeks and eventually had to
surrender. The fortifications were destroyed and the bridge was severely
damaged.
Around 1250, Ludwig's brother Charles I of Anjou
abolished municipal self-government and put the city back under count
rule. From 1290 it belonged to the Count of Provence Charles II of
Anjou, who was also King of Naples and a loyal vassal of the Church.
As early as 1303, before the arrival of the popes, Pope Boniface
VIII founded the University of Avignon in competition with the Sorbonne
in Paris.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, power struggles in Rome
led to Avignon becoming the seat of the popes and thus the capital of
Christianity for seventy years. After the brief pontificate of Benedict
XI, who died in 1304. his successor Clemens V. had himself crowned as
the first pope on French soil with the support of the French king Philip
the Handsome. After the coronation in Lyon, the papal residence was
first transferred to the county of Venaissin, which had been papal
property since the end of the Albigensian Crusade. In 1309 the move to
Avignon took place. Clement's successor, John XXII, previously bishop of
Avignon, initially took up his permanent seat in the bishop's palace.
Benedict XII, a highly educated Cistercian, had the first part of the
Papal Palace (Old Palace) built. Clemens VI, who was considered a lover
of pomp and art, built the New Palace. In addition, in 1348 he bought
the city from Joanna I of Naples for 80,000 gold guilders, thereby
incorporating Avignon into the Papal States. Innocent VI, who ruled from
1352 to 1362, owes the current city wall.
Urban V. tried to
return to Italy, but only Pope Gregory XI. succeeded in asserting itself
against the French king and in 1377 moved the seat back to Rome. He
received moral support from Catherine of Siena, who helped him end his
exile. Since the French cardinals with the election of his successor
Urban VI. were dissatisfied, they elected Clement VII as anti-pope, who
again exercised his office from Avignon. With this election, the Great
Western Schism began, which led to the split in the Catholic Church and
only ended with the Council of Constance in 1414. As the last pope,
Benedict XIII practiced. from 1394 to 1417 his pontificate in Avignon. A
total of seven Roman popes resided in the city, as well as two
anti-popes who were not recognized by the Catholic Church.
The
relocation of the papal seat to Avignon was to have a lasting effect on
the cityscape. The mighty papal palace was built and a defensive wall
around the city. There were also Gothic churches, monasteries and towers
as well as impressive cardinal liveries. The new papal court became one
of the most splendid courts of the Middle Ages. The boom in the city
began at the same time as the papacy. Avignon became an intellectual,
artistic and cultural center. Many people flocked to the city in the
wake of the popes, including cardinals, clergy, nobles, artisans, and
merchants. But architects, sculptors and artists were also attracted,
such as the Italian painters Matteo Giovanetti and Simone Martini or the
poet Francesco Petrarca. Around 30,000 people are said to have lived in
the city at the time, making Avignon one of the largest cities in
Western Europe.
However, not everyone was able to benefit equally
from the new wealth. While the cardinals and nobles in particular lived
in splendor and prosperity within the city walls, the poor outer
quarters of the city were inhabited by more and more beggars, day
laborers and prostitutes. The poor hygienic conditions favored the
outbreak of the plague in 1349, which cost the lives of around 11,000
people. In addition, the population suffered from droughts, famines and
roaming marauding soldiers of the Hundred Years' War.
After the departure of the last anti-pope at the beginning of the
fifteenth century, Avignon and the county of Venaissin remained under
the administration of a papal envoy. When Provence fell to the Kingdom
of France in 1481, the city even had the status of a papal enclave on
French soil.
Avignon was not spared from the Huguenot wars raging
in France. After Protestants destroyed numerous church properties in
Orange, papal troops were sent from Avignon to the city and carried out
a massacre there. In retaliation, Avignon was besieged in 1562 by the
Baron des Adrets.
In the centuries that followed, until the
French Revolution, Avignon experienced a peaceful period in which new
houses, churches, monuments and hotels were built. An exception was the
outbreak of the Great Plague in 1721, which decimated the city of 24,000
to a quarter of its population.
In Provence, the French Revolution took place primarily in the large
cities of Marseille, Aix, Arles and Avignon. In 1790, Provence was
divided into departments. For the formation of the Vaucluse department,
a rapid annexation of the papal territories to France was demanded in
the course of the onset of de-Christianization, which led to a
counter-revolution in Avignon that was loyal to the pope. However, this
was unsuccessful. In 1791, revolutionary troops annexed Avignon and the
county of Venaissin, which lost their special status. In 1793 Avignon
became the capital of the newly created department of Vaucluse. Many
architectural and artistic monuments in the city were destroyed during
the revolutionary struggles.
At the time of the Second Empire,
the cityscape was further changed. The Rue de la République was widened,
the Place Pie enlarged and pleasure gardens laid out at the Rocher des
Doms. An American air raid on May 27, 1944 killed 300 people.
With 90,597 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2020), Avignon is the
largest city in the Vaucluse department and the 44th largest city in
France. With a land area of 64.78 km², this corresponds to a population
density of 1399 inhabitants per km². Annual population growth is 0.3%
(average 1999-2020). The urban settlement zone (Unité urbaine) of
Avignon had 440,770 inhabitants in 2008, the municipal area (Aire
urbaine) 507,626 inhabitants.
From 1793 to 1911 the population
increased steadily from 24,000 to 49,304. The First World War caused an
initial slight decline in population. After the Second World War, an
increase in the population could be observed, which was mainly due to
the influx of many European settlers from Algeria (Pieds-noirs). In
addition, the immigration initially mainly from Italy, in the last
decades from North Africa, v. a. Morocco and Turkey. Stagnation set in
between 1975 and 2000. A wide variety of causes (service offerings,
quality of life, tax burdens ...) could explain the loss of
attractiveness of the community, the emigration of its residents and the
settlement in surrounding communities. The city, whose main source of
income is tourism, is one of the poorer and structurally weaker of
French cities; unemployment is close to 22%. Recently, the emigration
could be partially counteracted by improving the infrastructure such as
the construction of the TGV train station or by inner-city
rehabilitation and development projects.
Due to the strong Catholic presence in the past centuries, the number
of sacred buildings that are interesting from an architectural point of
view is high. There is a cathedral, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-des-Doms,
and numerous churches:
Saint-Agricol
Saint Didier
Saint Pierre
Saint Symphorien
Celestine Church
Saint Joseph de la Barthelasse
Saint Ruf Abbey
Sacre Coeur
Saint Paul
Saint Joseph travailleur
Saint Jean
Notre Dame de Lourdes
Notre Dame de la Paix
Chapelle
des Penitents gris
Chapelle des Penitents noirs
The Jewish
religion has been practiced in the Avignon synagogue for several
centuries. The synagogue was destroyed after a major fire in 1845 and
completely reconstructed a year later by the architect Joseph-Auguste
Joffroy.
The only Protestant church is the Temple Saint-Martial.
The city also has a Greek Orthodox church building, the Saints Cosme et
Damien church.
Historically quite recent is the Mosque de la
Rocade, the Mosque of Monclar and a Turkish mosque. While most of the
Catholic buildings are within the city walls, the mosques are only on
the outskirts.
There are also branches of Jehovah's Witnesses
(near the Montfavet neighborhood), the Church of Scientology, the Lao
Evangelical Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
There are four cemeteries in Avignon:
the Saint-Véran cemetery,
laid out in 1820, covers 12 hectares and houses 12,000 tombs. Since 1999
there has been a columbarium in the cemetery, intended for burial urns.
At the heart of the graveyard is a memorial to fallen Harkis.
the
Montfavet cemetery extends over seven hectares and houses 4000 tombs,
including that of Camille Claudel. The cemetery also accommodates other
religious communities (Jews, Muslims).
the Barthelasse Cemetery
currently has 125 tombs on exactly 2000 m²
the cemetery of Saint-Roch
(12th century) is the oldest. It extends over an area of approximately
2000 m². The site belongs to the lands of the Jewish community and is
not open to the public.
Avignon is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department, the arrondissement of Avignon and the seat of the Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Avignon.
Avignon's political life is predominantly conservative. In the 2007
general election, the conservative UMP candidate Marie-Josée Roig, who
was also mayor of the city until 2014, won 55.52% of the votes (vs.
56.71% for the entire constituency, the first constituency of Vaucluse).
In the 2007 presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy secured 52.02% of
the votes in the second round, while in the first round he secured
30.44% of the votes (versus 28.68% for Ségolène Royal).
Avignon
residents voted 59.49% no in the 2005 referendum on the European
Constitution. 51.85% had rejected the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. In the
2009 European elections, Françoise Grossetête (UMP) won with 25.39%
ahead of Michèle Rivasi of Europe Écologie (18.17%), the socialist
Vincent Peillon (16.52%), the candidate of the National Front Jean-Marie
Le Pen ( 10.61%) and others who have not reached the 10%. Voter turnout
was 38.76%. In the 2012 presidential elections, residents of Avignon
voted 30.87% for the candidate of the Socialist Party, François
Hollande, while Nicolas Sarkozy received only 23.12% of the votes and
Marine Le Pen 20.51%. In the second ballot, Hollande got 54.92% versus
45.08 for Sarkozy.
In the local elections in France in 2014, the
Social Democrats were able to recapture the Avignon town hall, contrary
to the nationwide trend: the list of the Parti socialiste led by Cécile
Helle achieved 47.5% of the votes (40 seats) in the second ballot, the
list of the Front National by Philippe Lottiaux came second with 35% (9
seats), while Bernard Chaussegros' UMP only managed 17.5% (4 seats).
In addition to the town hall, Avignon has eight town halls.
Avignon is the prefecture of Vaucluse and therefore has numerous
administrative buildings, in particular the Departmental Archives of
Vaucluse, which like all departmental archives were created in 1796, or
the Center départemental de documentation pedagogique du Vaucluse.
In 2007, the average tax revenue per household was €13,545, ranking Avignon 28,198 out of 30,714 French communes with more than 50 households.
The budget of February 15, 2007 for the year 2007 planned with a
total of 218.7 million euros.
With an operating sum of €150.4
million, the municipality thought of self-financing of €19.7 million.
The net income breaks down as follows:
€53.9 million in taxes and
fees
€44.5m Grand Avignon
€43.4 million in government grants
€8.2 million remaining income
Since 1996, housing tax has
decreased (from 22.41 to 19.24) and property tax for undeveloped land
(from 62.36 to 55.18). The property tax for built-up areas remained the
same (25.64).
Operating expenses break down as follows:
€67.3
million in personnel and related costs
€29.5 million in subsidies and
quotas
€23.9 million purchase of goods and services
€9.7 million
financial expenses
€0.2 million remaining expenses
In 2002, Avignon was the top crime statistic for French cities with
more than 25,000 inhabitants, with 173.35 crimes per 1,000 inhabitants.
Only in a few smaller towns like Saint-Tropez were there more crimes per
capita. In 2009, Avignon, with 120 crimes per 1,000 inhabitants, was in
second place among cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants (after
Saint-Denis).
In 2005, the social unrest in the French suburbs,
which had started in the Paris area, also spread to Avignon. In October
2010, twelve Islamists were arrested in France, including some in
Avignon. They planned to smuggle jihadists into France.
Potential natural and technological hazards to the community include:
flooding (and mudslides), landslides, dam failures, earthquakes and
hazardous material shipments.
In its January 2003 issue, Ça
m'interesse magazine published a ranking of waste sorting in the largest
cities in France, with Avignon taking first place. In seven years, the
city more than tripled the amount of separate waste it collected, from
about 1,000 tons in 1996 to 3,190 tons in 2003.
Ten garbage
collection points are available to the Avignonese, four of them in the
city center and six in the outskirts.
Since May 2003, a municipal
police "environmental squad" has been tasked with prosecuting illegal
dumping of rubbish, graffiti sprayers and noise harassers.
The
Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Avignon is responsible for the
treatment and disposal of household waste. There is also a dedicated
facility for waste originating from industry and commerce in the greater
Avignon area.
Avignon is equipped with an airborne radioactivity monitoring station because it is located south of two vulnerable sites located upstream on the Rhône: 70 km away is the Tricastin nuclear plant and the Pierrelatte uranium enrichment plant and around 30 km away is the decommissioned Marcoule nuclear power plant. The city is also equipped with a water balise to monitor water radioactivity in the Rhône.
An air quality indicator (“ATMO”) is measured over the city on a daily basis. On average, the air is rated “good” or “very good” 60 percent of the time, “medium” or “insufficient” 38 percent and only 2 percent “poor”. These results are favored by the Mistral acting as a diffuser.
In the municipality of Avignon, the authorities of the Service
environnement hygiène santé (Environmental Service for Hygiene and
Health) and the municipal police are responsible for combating noise. To
combat noise, several measures have been taken so far: the adoption of a
municipal ordinance, warnings subject to charges, the erection of noise
barriers, the purchase of electric vehicles, etc. The main source of
noise pollution is the Avignon-Caumont airport, particularly due to its
aerobatic operations. In October 2001, after six years of negotiations,
the ADRAC association (association de defense des riverains de
l'aérodrome de Châteaublanc) signed a "charter of good behavior" with
other partners (Aéroclub Vauclusien, City of Avignon, etc.). However,
during the flying club's spring 2009 open house, the presence of a
Tucano prompted a community of residents to complain again about the
aircraft, including the aerobatic pilots, who had not flown at the
flying club for three years.
In January 2005, the fourth
conference for the qualité de l'environnement sonore (quality of
environmental noise) was held in Avignon.
The motto is Unguibus et rostro, literally meaning "beak and claws"
(à bec et à griffes), similar to the French idiom à bec et ongles.
The city's logo shows part of the Pont Saint-Bénézet with AVIGNON
written in capital letters above it. It is a blurred, distorted
photograph of the bridge, which has an unusually elongated arch. The
yellow ocher color contrasts with the sky and the water of the Rhone,
the bridge can be identified by its chapel. There are several versions.
The slogan "VILLE D'ESPRIT" can be written at the bottom under the
bridge.
Throughout its history, the city of Avignon has received several
patron saints. Statues of these saints were erected in the eighteenth
century when the banks of the Rhône were remodeled.
Saint Ruf:
considered the founder of the Church of Avignon.
Saint Marthe
Peter of Luxembourg: Patron of Avignon since 1432, beatified in 1527.
The Saint-Didier church has relics of his body.
Saint Agricol: born
in Avignon in 627 to Saint Magne, bishop of the city. He was declared
patron saint of the city in 1647 by Archbishop César Argelli.
Saint-Bénézet, died in Avignon in 1184.
Around 7,000 companies, 1,500 associations, 1,700 shops and 1,300
service providers are located in Avignon, employing more than 35,000
people. From 1999 to 2010, the unemployment rate was around 22%.
Slightly less than a third of all employees are white-collar workers,
manual workers and employees in non-technical occupations each make up
around 25%. Around 10% are managers or can be assigned to the education
sector. Artisans, traders and managers make up around 6%, with less than
1% working in agriculture. There are only two industrial companies with
more than 100 employees: EDF (Grand Delta) with about 850 employees and
Onet Propreté with just over 300 employees. The tertiary sector is by
far the most dynamic in the department.
Avignon is the seat of
the Vaucluse Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This manages the airport
of Avignon and the commercial port of Le Pontet.
There are nine
large business parks (zone d'activité) in Avignon. The main business
park is in Courtine and is home to almost 300 companies (half of which
are service companies, one third commercial, and the rest industrial)
employing 3600 people. The area covers an area of 300 hectares and is
located south-east of the commune, near the TGV train station. Behind is
the Courtine business park with about 100 companies and 1000 employees.
However, the area is mostly commercial based compared to Courtine. The
industrial park of the Marché d'intérêt national (MIN), the Agroparc (or
"Technopole Agroparc") and the industrial park of Christole are adjacent
and each host a little less than 100 businesses. There is an INRA center
in the area, which has been conducting scientific research for forest
and cropland since 1953, specializing in environmental engineering and
environmental project planning. The districts of Castelette, Croix de
Noves, Realpanier and the airport each have less than 25 establishments,
divided between services and trade.
A free economic zone has been
set up south of Avignon, in which companies located there have to pay
fewer taxes and social security contributions. It is located between the
ramparts and the Durance, in the Croix Rouge, Monclar, Saint-Chamand and
Rocade districts.
With regard to the cultivation of fresh
vegetables in the Vaucluse department, the Marché d'intérêt national
pushed the local markets of the department into the background and
became a structural pole for the trade. In the years 1980-1990, the
development of goods traffic between northern and southern Europe
strengthened Avignon's position as a logistics hub and favored the
emergence of transport and logistics companies.
Several newspaper agencies are based in Avignon: La Provence,
Vaucluse Matin, Hebdo Vaucluse, Midi Libre, La Marseillaise, Petites
affiches de Vaucluse, Actualités Avignon, Vu sur le pont, but also the
free magazines Bonjour 84 and Plus Hebdo.
Both local and national
radio stations broadcast from the city: Chérie FM (88.1 MHz), France
Bleu Vaucluse (98.8 MHz), Virgin Radio (formerly Europe 2) (89.0 MHz),
Nostalgie Vaucluse (102.8 MHz), NRJ Vaucluse (98.2 MHz), RAJE Avignon
(90.3 MHz), RCF Radio Lumières (104.0 MHz) and RFM Vaucluse (95.9 MHz).
For television, France 3's Vauclusian studio broadcasts.
Four million visitors stay in Avignon every year to visit the city,
the region or the festival. This makes the city, along with the Luberon
and Mont Ventoux, one of the main tourist centers in the Vaucluse
department. In 2010, almost half of all hotel overnight stays in Avignon
were booked. At the festival time in July almost all hotels are fully
booked.
Since 1976, the International Congress Center has
occupied two wings of the Papal Palace. Ten reception and work rooms are
available for events. The large prestige halls Grand Tinel and Grande
Audience in the visitor area of the palace are used in addition to the
meeting rooms for organizing cocktail parties, gala dinners,
exhibitions, etc.
Thanks to its location on the Rhône and its proximity to larger
cities such as Marseille or Nîmes, Avignon has good transport links. It
is connected to the Autoroute A7 (E714) (also called Autoroute du
soleil) with the two junctions: "Avignon Nord" and "Avignon sud", and
the Autoroute A9 (E15) with the junction Remoulins.
The main main
roads are the Route Nationale 100, which continues east towards
L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and west towards Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and
Remoulins to join the A9 after 20 km. Route Nationale 7 heads east, then
splits into a dual carriageway to the north and rejoins Route
départementale 225.
The city offers seven metered parking lots
and provides two free monitored park-and-ride lots with a capacity of
1200 spaces, with free shuttles running to the center of the city.
From October 2019, Avignon will again have a tram. From 1889 to
1932, a meter-gauge tram operated in the greater Avignon area.
Avignon is accessible via two train stations: the historic
Avignon-Centre station, built in 1860, is on the Paris-Marseille line
outside the city center and can be served by any type of train. In 2001,
the Avignon TGV station was completed in the Courtine zone, three
kilometers south of the city center for the LGV Méditerranée high-speed
line. It can be reached by TGV from Paris (Gare de Lyon) non-stop in 2
hours and 40 minutes and from Lyon (Part Dieu) non-stop in 1 hour 10
minutes. Other direct connections exist, e.g. to Marseille, Brussels,
Strasbourg, Geneva and Frankfurt am Main. In the summer months, a pair
of Thalys trains also runs once a week from Amsterdam to Marseille.
Avignon Airport is located eight kilometers south-east of the city
and is served by various British airports. The airport handles
approximately 80,000 passengers per year. Marseille Airport is 80 km to
the south and Montpellier Airport is 90 km to the south-west.
The
Rhône has served as an important transport route for the city for
centuries. Water traffic in Avignon benefits from two commercial ports,
from docking for cruise ships. A free water taxi is also available on
site.
Avignon has 145 kilometers of cycle paths and, in July
2009, was equipped with a bicycle system, the Vélopop. The Vélopop is
managed by the TCRA (Les Transports en Commun de la Région d'Avignon),
the transport network of the municipalities in the greater Avignon area.
The largest employers in the commune are the Henri Duffaut hospital centre, Avignon town hall and the Montfavet clinic, each with 2000 employees. Next comes the General Council of Vaucluse with about 1300 employees.
Avignon benefits from 27 public kindergartens, 34 public primary
schools, and five private kindergartens and primary schools. The school
canteens distribute about 4000 meals a day. There are a total of nine
public and four private comprehensive schools in the municipality, as
well as eight public and four private high schools, including the Lycée
Frédéric-Mistral.
In terms of vocational schools, Avignon has
nine CFAs from different origins (food industry, Avignon and Vaucluse
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vaucluse Chamber of Crafts,
construction industry, Center de ressources de techniques avancées
(CRTA)) and a wide range of offers, including 24 schools and
institutions added for education and training.
The Conservatoire
de danse du Grande Avignon offers courses in dance, music and acting.
The École d'art d'Avignon, a city art school, is only accessible by an
entrance exam and teaches different areas of visual arts (drawing,
painting, spatial staging, photography, video, multimedia), cultural
history, contemporary art history and scientific approach to art
(science and art, physics and chemistry).
The University of Avignon teaches about 7600 students. It brings
together four UFR, an IUT and an IUP and primarily offers academic
courses in the fields of culture, agricultural science and computer
science.
Founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, it was
subsequently promoted by Charles II, King of Sicily and Count of
Provence. The university held its ground for almost 500 years and was
closed by decree on September 15, 1793. Avignon became academic again in
1963 with the opening of a scientific college center. A year later, a
university center for philology opened.
The two institutions
originally belonged to the University of Aix-Marseille and merged in
1972 to form an academic center that became a full university on 17 July
1984 under the name Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse
(independent of the University of Aix-Marseille) . At that time, three
UFR (Humanities, Natural Sciences, Applied Sciences and Linguistics)
shared 2000 students. The law, as the fourth branch, emerged from a law
faculty housed in an annex of the University of Aix-Marseille III. A
University of Applied Sciences (IUT) followed in 1990 and an IUP in
1992.
In order to avoid a too wide distribution of students (ten
locations in 1991) and to liven up the city center, it was decided to
bring together the various educational institutions in one location and
also to accommodate the community facilities (especially the libraries
and canteens) there. The former Sainte-Marthe hospital served as the new
location, where the first lectures were held in 1997.
Avignon is home to the main health facilities in Vaucluse, including
the department's only children's emergency room. The two largest clinics
in the commune are the Hospital Center of Avignon “Henri Duffaut” and
the Hospital Center of Montfavet.
The Avignon Clinic sees itself
as an institution with a nursing mandate (providing medical emergency
assistance, implementing public health measures) and is also responsible
for research, teaching and training. The Montfavet Clinic is primarily a
psychiatric hospital and has adult, child and adolescent psychiatric
departments, as well as a maison d'accueil spécialisée (MAS) and an
employment assistance department. The center is five kilometers east of
Avignon in the Montfavet district, on the Montdevergues hill.
There are also several private clinics.
Avignon is the seat of a regional court, a commercial court, a
district court and an employment tribunal. The seat of the courts is in
the courthouse on Boulevard Limbert.
Avignon is also the seat of
a chamber of notaries and a chamber of commerce.
The former
prison at 55a rue Banasterie was closed and moved to Pontet. The prison
is currently being renovated and converted into a 90-room Marriott
luxury hotel, expecting its first guests in 2013.
The Jesuit father Étienne Martellange made a drawing showing Avignon
around 1617. It is also associated with the Carte aux personnages of the
same year and with the map drawing from the Atlas van Loon.
Avignon, only in work titles:
La Pietà d'Avignon, a 15th-century
panel painting by Enguerrand Quarton;
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by
Pablo Picasso (1907) (which does not refer to the city but to the Carrer
d'Avinyó street in Barcelona).
Several films have been shot in Avignon, but the city has rarely been
the focus of the action. To mention are:
Minuit, place Pigalle by
Roger Richebé (1933) with Raimu
Eleven o'clock at night by Jean-Luc
Godard (1965), filmed on the Durance and the Pont de Bonpas
The Lady
in the Car with Glasses and a Gun by Anatole Litvak (1970)
Les Fous
du stade by Claude Zidi (1972), filmed at the stadium and in the
municipal baths
The Student by Claude Pinoteau (1988), with a scene
in which Vincent Lindon makes a call from a phone booth in the square of
the Palais des Papes
A Woman for Two by and with Josiane Balasko
(1995)
Victor… pendant qu'il est trop tard by Sandrine Veysset
(1998), especially on the Île de la Barthelasse
L’Affaire Dominici by
Pierre Boutron (2003) in the Avignon court
A Good Year by Ridley
Scott (2005)
Mr. Bean's Holiday by Steve Bendelack (2007), with
scenes shot in Avignon's two train stations
Désengagement by Amos
Gitai (2007), the beginning of the film takes place in Avignon
Le
Bruit des gens autour by Diastème (2008), dedicated to the International
Theater Festival
Tell me about the rain by Agnès Jaoui (2008), where
you can see the Rue de la Peyrollerie
In the autobiographical
documentary The Beaches of Agnès by Agnès Varda (2008), you can see
Varda's photo exhibition at the festival in the Saint-Charles chapel.
In addition, two French television series are set in the city: La
Demoiselle d'Avignon (1972) and La Prophétie d'Avignon (2007), which was
filmed in the Palais des Papes.
Avignon and the Palais des Papes have often served as the setting for literary action, particularly in French literature. Among the best-known works are probably Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel or Alphonse Daudet's Letters from my Mill, which refer to the time of the popes. There are also numerous mentions of well-known travelers such as Francesco Petrarca, Anne Marguerite Petit Du Noyer or Stendhal, whose impressions and views are, however, quite different. Avignon is described by some as a peaceful, idyllic city where life is good. Others, such as Prosper Mérimée, are astonished by the imposing papal palace, which is sometimes met with dislike due to its fortress-like character. Petrarch probably felt the most uncomfortable in Avignon, who felt repelled by the big city and preferred to live in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.
On June 20, 1938, the French Post Office issued a stamp of the Palais
des Papes, drawn by André Spitz and embossed by Jules Piel, with a face
value of three francs.
Every year since 1960, the Société
philatélique Vauclusienne et Provençale has organized a Journée du
Timbre to Avignon, publishing illustrated cards with a view of the Pont
Saint-Bénézet and the Palais des Papes.
In 1974 the Isle of Man
Post Office issued a postage stamp showing the Pont Saint-Bénézet.
In 1997, the Wallis and Futuna Islands Postal Administration
dedicated one of their issues to the fiftieth anniversary of the Avignon
Festival. The postage stamp with a nominal value of 160 francs shows
symbols for theatre, music and dance in the middle, as well as the
Palais des Papes lit up by fireworks.
On 8 June 2001, in memory
of Jean Vilar, the Post Office issued a double face value stamp (three
francs and 0.46 euros) with the Palais des Papes in the background.
In 2009, the French postal administration issued a stamp with a face
value of 0.70 euros. It shows the entire papal palace including Avignon
Cathedral from the west and was designed by Martin Mörck.
There are numerous personalities associated with the city of Avignon and its history. Avignon has not only produced countless sons and daughters, but has also influenced many famous personalities from outside. These include above all popes and cardinals (Annibaldus de Ceccano, Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord), former or current politicians, military figures (Juan Fernández de Heredia, Raymond de Turenne), athletes, sculptors (Jean-Pierre Gras, Camille Claudel), painters (Claude Joseph Vernet), members of the first (Simone Martini, Matteo Giovanetti) and second schools of Avignon (Enguerrand Quarton, Nicolas Froment) or of the (Groupe des Treize), architects (Pierre Mignard, Jean Péru, Jean-Baptiste Franque), Singers (Fernand Sardou, Mireille Mathieu), writers (Henri Bosco, Pierre Boulle, René Girard) and poets (Petrarca, Alain Chartier, Théodore Aubanel or other members of the Félibrige).