Pont d'Avignon (Pont St-Bénezet)

The Pont d'Avignon, (Pont St-Bénezet), is a famous medieval bridge in Avignon. It was built between 1171 and 1185, with an original length of some 900 metres, but it suffered frequent collapses during floods and had to be reconstructed several times. The bridge, which was built in Romanesque styles, was finally put out of use in 1668, because a flood destroyed the structure. Only four of the initial 22 arches remain intact today. The bridge had great strategic importance as the only fixed river crossing between Lyon and the Mediterranean Sea and was controlled by the pope and the King of France.