The Roman Remains of Southern France: A Guide Book by Bromwich James

Author:Bromwich, James [Bromwich, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781135629632
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2013-06-17T04:00:00+00:00

AVIGNON, Vaucluse

Michelin 81–12

IGN 66–9A

2,72/48,83gr

4° 48/43° 56

Major museum.

The dominating image of Avignon is improved medieval. The fourteenth-century walls benefited considerably from the work of Viollet-le-Duc, the famous ‘bridge’ is a carefully preserved stump of four arches going nowhere and the papal palace, despite extensive work to restore its palatial aspects, still looks more like a fortress. My sour response is I suppose a result of the pervasive atmosphere of mass tourism, intense summer heat and the almost total absence of any Roman remains. The compensation is that what there is can be seen easily and the museum collection has some outstanding pieces.

Avenio was an important Roman city, listed by Mela in the first century as the third richest city of Narbonensis. The rocky prominence by the Rhone had attracted intensive settlement in the Bronze Age and emerged as the major Iron Age centre of the Cavares tribe. Massaliote coinage and pottery confirm the expected Greek presence. The St Agricol excavations (see p. 153) revealed Greek large block walling; a hint that during the later second century BC Avignon may have formed part of the Massalia's inland terrritory, securing the Durance-valley. The wealth of the Roman city, awarded the prestigious title of ‘colonia’ early on, is hinted at by the forum remains, traces of a theatre, the fragments of battle scenes preserved in the museum that might represent a triumphal arch and the large number of mosaics found here and subsequently destroyed.

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