AVIGNON, A POPES' THING
 |
| the stage for Thyeste in the Popes' Palace courtyard |
I have known the name Avignon from childhood. Not that I ever travelled there as a kid, it is actually thanks to a song called "Sur le pont d'Avignon" whose lyrics are rather simple: on the Avignon bridge, people dance, people dance in rounds...
I remember stopping there for a one day visit twenty years ago and visiting the Popes' Palace which is one of the most famous historical buildings in South of France because it unexpectedly became the residence of the Popes in the 14th century. During that century the ruling center of the Catholic world, traditionally based in Rome, was moved to Avignon. This is how it happened. A conflict opposed Philippe le Bel, King of France, to the Pope Boniface VIII in 1295 AD. Philippe le Bel wanted to raise an temporary tax, called décime, on the clergy in order to fund military expenses and particularly to contain the aspiration of some Flemish cities to become independent. The Pope opposed the tax and communicated in a bull in 1296 that the clergy should remain tax-free. The hierarchy between the Pope, representing the spiritual power, and the Kingdoms in Europe, representing temporal powers, had never been cast in stone over the past centuries. In retaliation to the bull, Philippe le Bel forbade the export of values out of France, which was meant to deprive the Pope from important revenues coming out of France. The conflict escalated to the point that Boniface VIII declared in a bull in 1302 that spiritual power was not subordinated to temporal powers. The King of France, with support from the French nobility, bourgeoisie and French bishops, reacted by contesting the power of Pope Boniface VIII himself. He sent a trusted knight, Guillaume de Nogaret, with a military escort to have the Pope trialed. Sciarra Colonna, ennemy of the Pope rallied the party of the King of France. Somehow Pope Boniface died at the end of the summer 1303. In October 1303, a new Pope was elected, Benoit V who reversed the decisions from his predecessor before dying in 1304. It took eleven months of negotiation between two roman families, Colonna and Caetani proxy for Philippe le Bel and Boniface VIII respectively, to agree that the next Pope should come outside of the group of eligible Cardinals. It was agreed that Bertrand de Got, who had remained neutral in the row between the King of France and Boniface VIII, would become the next Pope. He chose the name of Clement V and was crowned in Lyon. He decided against settling down in Rome, fearing likely intrigues against his life, and chose Avignon instead because it was a city strategically located between Lyon, Marseille and had a bridge on the Rhône river which was the mandatory point of passage for goods transiting between Spain and Provence and Italy. This was the beginning of having several popes residing in Avignon who progressively expanded the palace in which they lived. Most of them would have wanted to relocate to Rome but would never be able make it. The Hundred-Year war started between France and England. Politics in Europe were complex. Popes feared to be under attack from other enemy kingdoms (for instance Ludwig from Bavaria) which triggered the construction of fortifications around the city center of Avignon in 1355. In 1372 Grégoire XI promised he would relocate to Rome which triggered a rebellion from the city of Florence whose families feared that the relocation of the Pope to Rome would weaken their city. Grégoire XI died in 1377 in Italy. After that there was no agreement between the various parties to choose a single Pope. Some parties established a Pope in Rome while others did so in Avignon. That divide was called the great occidental schism. The matter was only settled after 1411 when Jean XXIII was elected and settled down in Rome.
Back to the present, my mind was already going through the things to see and do during our short stay in Avignon while we walked towards it through a forest path with botanical indications on the local flora, with for instance details on the different species of oaks (green, kermes). The air smelt very good with Aleppo pines. This was uplifting after the long walk we had just had. Of course the prospect of soon being in Avignon was uplifting too and that put a sort of turbo in our legs!
We were soon on the Rhône shores, next to the motorway. After about two kilometres we finally reached the bridge that would take us into Avignon. Over it, we could see the old Avignon bridge, which is partly destroyed (three arches remain), the castle of Villeneuve les Avignon, the fortification wall of Avignon's center and beyond the towers of the Popes' Palace and Notre Dame des Doms.
Here we were, in this historical city which has since found a way to shine again with culture. Avignon is now famous for its theatre festival that runs for three weeks in July. We were a week too early, but already we could see signs that the festival was coming. Crews of technicians with their jeans/t-shirt outfit were at work to prepare venues.
The main courtyard of the Popes' Palace was transformed for the occasion. It was filled up with giant scaffolds to turn it into an arena-like theatre venue for the representation of Thyeste, a drama from Seneca. On the stage was a giant hand and a face. This was probably the largest venue but the whole city counts dozens of shows for the festival with ephemeral theatres.
The visit of the palace is now a virtual reality affair. Everyone was given a tablet, which displayed visualisations of the corner of the room pointed at, as it was thought to have looked like, back in the days. Everyone room also had its treasure hunt to accumulate virtual gold coins which would entitle visitors to a virtual gift if they collected all the coins of the treasure. On top of that one had to point the tablet at some QRcodes to hear the story of the room while doing other things. The level of solicitation from the tablet was quite disturbing to memorize anything.
History and Culture are placing Avignon on the route of many tourists but the city has adapted. There are countless restaurants and bars. In a way, it feels good, with the heat, to be seating at a terrace in the shade during the day and in the evening with historical buildings as a background. Mansions with finely carved stone facades are many in the very center.
Rue des teinturiers is a particularly charming street, along a small waterway called the Sorgue. In the 19th century, some water wheels were built on the river to produce electricity which allowed textile makers to produce colourful "Indiennes" prints. The name of the street comes from those craftsmen. It is nowadays a lovely cobbled street with plane trees keeping the heat at bay. A nice place to sit for a meal or simply a drink, away from the crowd coming to visit the Popes' Palace.
We stayed in the eastern part of the city center, next to the Porte Magnan. The street had a row of very old and somewhat dilapidated houses. The area is probably awaiting rejuvenation and gentrification. For now it is a paradise for kebab and oriental grocery stores. Arabic is commonly heard on the street. This is another aspect of the evolution of city centers in South of France.
As we walked towards the main shopping boulevard, we came across a curiosity, a cat café which hosts about ten cats to keep guests company. It is possible to adopt them - the cats.
As we were leaving the city we discovered that ongoing roadworks were the next fortification set around the old city: a tramway would soon go outside the fortification around the city center.
Back to the present, my mind was already going through the things to see and do during our short stay in Avignon while we walked towards it through a forest path with botanical indications on the local flora, with for instance details on the different species of oaks (green, kermes). The air smelt very good with Aleppo pines. This was uplifting after the long walk we had just had. Of course the prospect of soon being in Avignon was uplifting too and that put a sort of turbo in our legs!
We were soon on the Rhône shores, next to the motorway. After about two kilometres we finally reached the bridge that would take us into Avignon. Over it, we could see the old Avignon bridge, which is partly destroyed (three arches remain), the castle of Villeneuve les Avignon, the fortification wall of Avignon's center and beyond the towers of the Popes' Palace and Notre Dame des Doms.
Here we were, in this historical city which has since found a way to shine again with culture. Avignon is now famous for its theatre festival that runs for three weeks in July. We were a week too early, but already we could see signs that the festival was coming. Crews of technicians with their jeans/t-shirt outfit were at work to prepare venues.
The main courtyard of the Popes' Palace was transformed for the occasion. It was filled up with giant scaffolds to turn it into an arena-like theatre venue for the representation of Thyeste, a drama from Seneca. On the stage was a giant hand and a face. This was probably the largest venue but the whole city counts dozens of shows for the festival with ephemeral theatres.
The visit of the palace is now a virtual reality affair. Everyone was given a tablet, which displayed visualisations of the corner of the room pointed at, as it was thought to have looked like, back in the days. Everyone room also had its treasure hunt to accumulate virtual gold coins which would entitle visitors to a virtual gift if they collected all the coins of the treasure. On top of that one had to point the tablet at some QRcodes to hear the story of the room while doing other things. The level of solicitation from the tablet was quite disturbing to memorize anything.
History and Culture are placing Avignon on the route of many tourists but the city has adapted. There are countless restaurants and bars. In a way, it feels good, with the heat, to be seating at a terrace in the shade during the day and in the evening with historical buildings as a background. Mansions with finely carved stone facades are many in the very center.
Rue des teinturiers is a particularly charming street, along a small waterway called the Sorgue. In the 19th century, some water wheels were built on the river to produce electricity which allowed textile makers to produce colourful "Indiennes" prints. The name of the street comes from those craftsmen. It is nowadays a lovely cobbled street with plane trees keeping the heat at bay. A nice place to sit for a meal or simply a drink, away from the crowd coming to visit the Popes' Palace.
We stayed in the eastern part of the city center, next to the Porte Magnan. The street had a row of very old and somewhat dilapidated houses. The area is probably awaiting rejuvenation and gentrification. For now it is a paradise for kebab and oriental grocery stores. Arabic is commonly heard on the street. This is another aspect of the evolution of city centers in South of France.
As we walked towards the main shopping boulevard, we came across a curiosity, a cat café which hosts about ten cats to keep guests company. It is possible to adopt them - the cats.
As we were leaving the city we discovered that ongoing roadworks were the next fortification set around the old city: a tramway would soon go outside the fortification around the city center.
Images:
1/ the stage for Thyeste in the Popes' Palace courtyard
2/ the Popes Palace facade
3/ rue des teinturiers
4/ street terraces
5/ the cats café
1/ the stage for Thyeste in the Popes' Palace courtyard
2/ the Popes Palace facade
3/ rue des teinturiers
4/ street terraces
5/ the cats café
 |
| the Popes' palace |
 |
| rue des teinturiers |
 |
| street terraces |
 |
| the cat's café |
Comments
Post a Comment