|
 Villeneuve
les Avignon is a town of south-eastern France, in the department of Card
on the right bank of the Rhone opposite Avignon, with which it is
connected by a suspension bridge.
Villeneuve preserves many remains of its medieval importance. The church
of Notre Dame, dating from the 14th century, contains a rich marble
altar and remarkable pictures.
The church and other remains of the Carthusian monastery of Val-de-Benediction,
founded in 1356 by Innocent VI., are now used for habitation and other
secular purposes. A gateway and a rotunda, built as shelter for a
fountain, both dating from about 1670, are of architectural note. On the
Mont Andaon, a hill to the north-east of the town, stands the Fort of St
Andre (i4th century), which is entered by an imposing fortified gateway
and contains a Romanesque chapel and remains of the abbey of St Andre.
The other buildings of interest include several old mansions once
belonging to cardinals and nobles, and a tower, the Tour de Philippe le
Bel, built in the 14th century, which guarded the western extremity of
the Pont St Benezet. |
