The walls of Avignon (French: Les Remparts d'Avignon) are a series of defensive stone walls that surround the city of Avignon in the south of France. They were built in the 14th century during the Avignon papacy and have been continually rebuilt and repaired throughout their subsequent history.
The current walls replaced an earlier double set of defensive walls that had been completed in the first two decades of the 13th century. During the Albigensian Crusade the town sided with the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII but in 1226, after a three-month siege by Louis VIII of France, Avignon capitulated and was forced to dismantle the early walls and fill in the moats. Beginning in around 1231, the defences were rebuilt. Although these early walls have not survived, their path is preserved in the street plan of the city.
In 1309 Pope Clement V moved to Avignon and under the papacy the town expanded outside the limits of the earlier city walls. From the 1350s during the Hundred Years' War the town became vulnerable to pillage by marauding bands of mercenaries and in 1357 under Innocent VI, the fifth Avignon pope, work began on the construction of a new set of city walls to enclose the expanded town. The walls took nearly 20 years to complete.
The walls stretch for 4.3 km (2.7 mi) and enclose an area of 150 ha (370 acres). There were originally twelve gates controlling access to the city but this number was reduced to seven when the fortifications were modified between 1481 and 1487 during the French Wars of Religion. There are now 15 vehicular entrances and 11 pedestrian entrances.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city ofAvignon in southern France. 4th–5th century AD - Diocese ofAvignon established. 500 - Frankish...
(English: Palace of the Popes; lo Palais dei Papas in Occitan) is a historical palace located in Avignon, Southern France. It is one of the largest and...
allowing the execution of many of its members. Clement moved the Papacy from Rome to Avignon, ushering in the period known as the Avignon Papacy. Raymond Bertrand...
Messina, Life Among the Ruins, c. 1927; Outside the WallsofAvignon, c. 1927; and The Dance of Death Bridge at Lucerne, c. 1928. It is unclear whether...
had, defensive walls. Algiers Ghardaïa Timimoun Al-Fustat Cairo Damietta See List of Egypt castles, forts, fortifications and city walls. Harar Apollonia...
1378, the popes lived in the papal enclave ofAvignon, surrounded by Provence and under the influence of the French kings. This period was known as the...
vice-chairman of the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles. In 2000, Yvon Lambert opened the Collection Lambert en Avignon in the former space of the Hôtel de...
in Avignon, as the true pope. Born in Itri, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, Prignano was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On...
Lateran Palace until the reign of the French Pope Clement V, who in 1309 transferred the seat of the papacy to Avignon, a papal fiefdom that was an enclave...
and return them to Avignon, leading to a high-stakes fight for control. The book House of Leaves, now academically studied as a work of fiction, becomes...
Avignon, a period known as the Avignon Papacy. From 1309 until 1377, seven popes reigned in Avignon before the Schism between the Roman and Avignon churches...
influence with Pope Gregory XI played a role in his 1376 decision to leave Avignon for Rome. The Pope then sent Catherine to negotiate peace with the Florentine...
the valley of the Rhône and laid siege to Avignon. The city held out for three months but was finally forced by hunger to surrender. Avignon was forced...
bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377)...
of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death, in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of...
the east bank of the river Rhone, north of the city ofAvignon, and surrounded by the independent papal state of Comtat Venaissin. It was constituted in...
considerable influence in the High Middle Ages, but with the Avignon Papacy and the Western Schism, the city of Rome was reduced to irrelevance, its population falling...
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