Construction of pont Saint-Bénézet

The Pont Saint-Benezet, popularly known as the Pont d'Avignon, is a medieval bridge over the Rhone in Avignon, in southern France. According to legend, a shepherd boy named Benezet was commanded by a divine voice to build a bridge and proved his mission by lifting an enormous stone. The bridge, built in the late twelfth century, was an important crossing of the Rhone, which is wide and fast, and it connected Avignon with the territory of the French kings. It was repeatedly damaged by floods and rebuilt, and in the seventeenth century the repairs were abandoned, leaving only four arches. A chapel to Saint Nicholas stands on one of the piers. The bridge is celebrated in the folk song Sur le pont d'Avignon.

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