Villeneuve-lèz-Avignon
City of Cardinals
Standing on the the right bank of the Rhone opposite Avignon itself, stands the one time frontier town of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon.
As Avignon increased in importance during the Middle Ages, the King of France needed to keep an eye on the Papal territories. Just across river this was the ideal spot. France had acquired this territory after the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heretics and at the end of the 13th century King Philippe-le-Bel (Philip the Fair) founded a new town here. He built a fine tower to guard the west end of the then still functioning Pont St-Benezet.
Unexpected bonus
This gave Philippe what he wanted. However, an unexpected bonus was the Cardinals bought land in the town and built some fine residences. This led to great prosperity, Villeneuve grew rapidly and soon the King built Fort St-Andre to monitor the Papal Enclave.
Don’t Miss: the Tour Philippe-le-Bel or the view from the top over the Rhone to Avignon itself. The best time for this is late afternoon.