Pont Saint-Benezet

This historic bridge is the inspiration for the children's song "Sur le Pont d'Avignon" and was originally constructed over the Rhone between 1177 and 1185. According to traditional, a local shepherd boy was commanded by angels to build a bridge across the river between Avignon and Villeneuve-les-Avignon and he miraculously lifted a large block of stone as proof of his divine inspiration. This boy later became Saint Benezet and was interred in a chapel on the bridge after his death. For a long time, the bridge was the only fixed river crossing between Lyon in central France and the Mediterranean Sea.