Four arches are all that’s left of this immense medieval crossing. The bridge once had 22, stretching 900 metres (2,953 feet) across the Rhône when it was completed in the 13th century. What remains today juts out halfway, like a pier built to let you admire the rushing waters below.
Floods destroyed most of it between the 15th and 17th centuries. Repairing it cost more than building anew, so Avignon abandoned the crossing and left what survives as a monument to medieval engineering (as well as a pretty viewpoint). The Chapel of Saint Nicholas sits on the second pier, a tiny Romanesque structure that’s survived every flood since 1177.
Your entry ticket includes an audio guide, which has an explanation the bridge's history and a recording of “Sur le Pont d'Avignon” – the nursery rhyme known by French speakers everywhere. Press play as you begin to walk to length of the bridge, admiring the power and breadth of the Rhône below.
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