Pont Saint-Bénezet

Built during the twelfth century and composed of 22 arches, the bridge of Avignon was destroyed several times by the flooding of the Rhone. It is rebuilt in the seventeenth century, but collapses again. Only two arches remain today. The bridge of Avignon, also known as the Pont Saint-Benezet, ows it's name to a legend. In 1177, a shepherd named Benezet heard a voice giving him the task of building a custom bridge over the Rhone. This bridge will be an indispensable channel of communication during the installation of the papacy to Avignon.

The song "Sur le pont d'Avignon" comes from the operetta "On the bridge of Avignon" in 1876. Many popular songs in the fifteenth already evoked this theme. In fact we did not dance on deck, because it is too narrow, but under the bridge, on the banks of the Rhone.