FRANCE: Avignon

When we were in school we learned a little French ditty that went like this:

Sur le Pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le Pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse tous en rond.

Translated:

On the bridge in Avignon
They are dancing there, They are dancing there

On the bridge in Avignon
They all dance in circles there

It seems that little jingle was learned in French classes around the world. 

But, truth be known, sorry to say, it wasn't possible to dance in circles on the bridge in Avignon, because the bridge is too narrow. 

In consolation though, it is now listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The bridge of Avignon was started in 1177 and completed 8 years later. During that medieval time the bridge was renowned as a marvel of construction. It was 920 metres (3,000ft) long, had 22 arches and measured 4 metres (13ft) wide. 

Over the centuries floods and wars damaged the bridge. Each time it was rebuilt. But, in 1668, a huge flood destroyed most of the bridge. This time, the townsfolk decided not to rebuild it due to high repair costs. And, to this day, despite it being famous because of that jingle, it has not been repaired and does not cross the river Rhône.

FRENCH POPES

In 1309 a French pope was elected. Following that, there were 6 successive French popes ruling until 1377. Instead of ruling from Rome, which was customary, they all ruled from Avignon. Due to religious and political unrest, Avignon was considered safer than Rome. 

As a result, the Catholic church bought the town of Avignon and started building the Palace of the Popes in 1335. 

The Palace of the Popes is the amalgamation of two palaces built by two popes: Benedict XII, who built the Old Palace, and his successor Clement VI who built the New Palace.

Along with building the three-acre papal palace, the Church also built mansions for cardinals, residences for its bureaucracy plus cleared out vast spaces for public squares. It erected more than three miles of a protective wall, complete with 39 towers. 

It is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. 

At the time, Avignon was Europe's largest construction zone, and its population grew from 6,000 to 25,000. 

So if you slept through these classes in school, as I apparently did, you now know that there was no circle dancing on the bridge at Avignon, it was never repaired after the flood of 1668, and, the French popes used to rule in Avignon and not in Rome.