A drive of a few miles along a level road, above which on the left rise great masses of basaltic rock forming fantastic figures not unlike the ruins we have just passed, brings us to the village of Cruas, where we discover two architectural subjects of some importance. On the hill above the village stand the ruins of the ancient monastery, now greatly dilapidated, and having the space between the walls choked up with the steep and irregular streets of a small town.
The monastic buildings have almost entirely disappeared, the materials having doubtless served for the construction of the shabby houses which now occupy their place. Some portions of the enclosing walls, however, still survive, together with one very interesting edifice, which remains
tolerably entire. This is the ancient chapel of the abbey, originally a building of the twelfth century, but which in the fourteenth century was engulphed by the enclosing walls and fortifications then erected, and heightened so as to be converted into a keep (Fig. 43). The interior has, however, been preserved untouched, and shews the simple style of the Cistertians of the twelfth century (Fig. 44). The plan consists of a single nave with plain pilasters set against the side walls, from which spring the flat transverse arches which strengthen the round tunnel vault. The east end is terminated with a semi-circular apse roofed with a spherical dome, and ornamented with the small arcaded pattern so common at that period. On the left or northern side wall arches are introduced, as if for a side aisle, but there is no appearance of any aisles ever having existed. The plain round arched west doorway still exists, and the line of the original gable above it is distinctly observable in the masonry (see Fig. 43).
The keep built round and over the church is of remarkable design. Large round buttresses have been added at the outer angles, with square buttresses at the sides, and both are carried up so as to receive the arches which support the parapet on the top. These arches spring from bold corbels projecting from the buttresses, and are set well forward from the face of the walls, so as to leave a space between the main wall and the parapet. This space forms a long opening or machicolation, by means of which the base of the walls could be defended against hostile operations. We shall see by and by that this is the same form of machicolation as was adopted in the Pope’s Palace at Avignon, and elsewhere in the South.
The parapet is crenellated, and, from the beam holes still visible in the walls, we may infer that it was provided with wooden hoardings for defence.
The church in the village at the base of the hill (Fig. 45) has also some points of special interest. It is of early twelfth century design, and has a vaulted subterranean crypt with numerous sculptured caps. The upper church has a square tower at the west end, and a transept with three circular apses opening out of it to the east,—the central apse forming the choir, and the side apses lateral chapels. Over the crossing rises an octagonal lantern, containing a dome crowned with a smaller circular lantern. The
whole composition and style of ornamentation strongly recall the architecture of the Rhineland and Lombardy. The thin strips of pilasters on the apses and lantern, with small arcade-enrichment between, together with the general form of the lantern, strikingly recall the churches of Bonn and Cologne. The western tower again is similar to those we have left behind at Vienne and Lyons. This church, like many others we shall encounter, illustrates what has above been stated as to the universality of the one style which prevailed over the “Empire,” before it was broken up into separate nationalities.
Soon after leaving Montélimar with its frowning citadel, in which there are some ancient Romanesque details, and a great tower of the fourteenth century called the “Tour de Narbonne,” we observe on the opposite side of the Rhone the picturesque town of Viviers, clustering on a pyramidal rock, and appropriately crowned with the cathedral and spire. The church is of the fourteenth century, a single nave without aisles. It is said that the crowded and narrow streets contain some old houses, but the place is apparently more picturesque than architectural.
We now approach the country in which the peculiar elements of the Provençal style become distinctly apparent. About four miles north-east from Pierrelatte, the ancient town of Garde Adhémar may be seen towering aloft on the crest of a bold promontory about 500 feet high. This town contains a Romanesque church with an eastern and western apse, after the German fashion, a rather remarkable feature here, but showing, like the ornaments already referred to, an influence from the Rhine. The side aisles are vaulted with quarter-circle arches, and the exterior is finished with a small belfry and steeple.
About six miles to the south-east of Pierrelatte lies the village of St Paul-trois-châteaux, where another very remarkable church is found. The town was of some importance from Roman times downward, and retained its bishop’s see till the Revolution. Several fine Roman sculptures have been found in the locality, and are preserved in the Calvet museum at Avignon; and a few remains of Roman structures and columns are still to be seen. But the most interesting edifice in the town is the ancient cathedral of the twelfth century. As this is the first building we have met with which is characteristically Provençal in style, so it is also one which preserves in a very distinct and marked manner the traditional Roman
features of that style. The annexed geometric view of one of the exterior bays (Fig. 46.)) shews how close is the imitation in the Provençal architecture of the twelfth century of that of the Roman structures which no doubt then existed on the spot. The pilasters, crowned with their complete entablature of architrave, frieze, and cornice, and filled in with an intermediate arcade, might be part of a Roman amphitheatre (such as those at Nimes and Arles); and indeed it is supposed that traces of an ancient amphitheatre have been discovered at St Paul. Every detail might belong to the Lower Empire. The ornaments of the cornice are directly imitated from the modillions and leaf enrichments of Roman work; and the egg and dart, and other classic details are freely used throughout. The interior ornament is equally Roman in design. The east end is terminated with an apse, which has eight fluted columns. The two side aisles are covered with half wagon vaults, and the nave, which is unusually high, with a simple tunnel vault.
This locality brings us for the first time into contact with a tradition of which we shall find many traces in various parts of Provence, viz., that the Gospel was introduced into this country by the family of Lazarus, and some other contemporaries of Christ, who had been driven hither by persecution. At St Paul the story goes that the first bishop was the blind man whose sight was restored, and who assumed the name of Restitutus.
About three miles from St Paul may be seen the monument of this saint, said to be of very ancient and curious construction. It is partly built into the church, and is ornamented with a remarkable frieze, containing a rude representation of the last supper.
The station of La Croisière is the nearest to a very remarkable specimen of mediæval construction, the Pont St Esprit. This celebrated bridge was planned and begun in 1265 by Jean de Tensanges, the abbot of the order of Cluny, in the district of St Savourin du Port, which belonged to the abbey. It was thirty years in building, but we have proof that the work was well planned and skilfully executed, in the fact that it subsists till the present day. The length of the bridge is about 3000 feet, and the width of the roadway is 16 feet. There are twenty-two arches, all semi-circular in form, and constructed with carefully wrought courses of arch stones, forming separate rings set together side by side, but not bonded into one another. This mode of construction was probably borrowed from the bridge of St Bénezet at Avignon, which again derived it from the Roman Pont du Gard. Over the piers are smaller arched openings to allow the water of the high floods of the Rhone to pass freely through. Like the Pont St Bénezet at Avignon the Pont St Esprit does not run straight across the river, but is bent at an obtuse angle against the current so as to resist its pressure. The bridge was fortified at both ends by castles erected by the suzerains on the opposite sides of the river. These remained till the seventeenth century, when one of them was brought into connection with the citadel of the town constructed by Louis XIII. This was the last bridge erected by the “Frères hospitaliers pontifes” (of whom we shall hear more at Avignon). After the thirteenth century neither Communes nor Nobles found it necessary to apply to the monks for their aid as architects and engineers. By that time the lay architects had superseded them, in the manner above described (Part V.)
Passing next close under the rocky heights crowned with the picturesque ruins of the castles of Montdragon and Mornas, the massive wall of the theatre of Orange rising high above the plain arrests the eye.
A little further on the ramparts and gates of the small walled town of Courthézon are visible close to the railway; soon after passing which, the bold outline of the great Palace of the Popes discovers itself to view towering on its rock above the town of Avignon.
On nearer approach, the city walls and gates, surmounted with bold corbels and machicolations, and the numerous towers and spires of the churches, unite to give a striking first impression of the city. As it is chef-lieu of the department of Vaucluse, and the See of an Archbishop, Avignon is a town of some business and prominence. The traveller will here find better accommodation than he generally meets with in the country towns. This may therefore be regarded as a good place to establish one’s headquarters for a few days, both for the purpose of seeing the very splendid monuments of the town, and also as a convenient centre from which excursions may be made to the interesting Provençal churches of early date, which abound in the vicinity.
Although Avignon was an important Roman colony, it has already been remarked how barren it is in Roman remains. After the fall of Rome, it passed successively through the hands of the Burgundians, the Franks, and the Visigoths: it was twice taken by the Saracens (730 and 737), and twice delivered by Charles Martel. Afterwards it became part of the Kingdom of Arles, and subsequently capital of the Marquisate of Provence.
In the twelfth century the community declared itself a free and independent city, and erected new walls and fortifications. Avignon ranged herself on the side of the Albigenses; and, as previously mentioned, she was besieged and taken, and in 1251 became subject to the Count of Provence.
In 1308 an event happened which had a very important bearing on the subsequent history of the city. Pope Clement V., finding his position in Italy insecure amidst the dreadful factions which rent that country, judged it prudent to retire to Avignon, where he would be under the protection (if also under the power) of the King of France. Avignon thereafter continued for more than a century the Holy See, and during that time seven Pontiffs and two Anti-Popes reigned in this new Rome.
As already narrated, Pope Clement VI. purchased the suzerainty of Avignon and the control of the Venaissin from Jeanne, the Queen of Naples and Countess of Provence, in 1348. Successive Popes used every exertion to render the place secure, and especially built themselves, on the Rocher-des-Doms, the immense Palace, which still forms the most prominent feature of the town. The walls and fortifications were begun in 1349, and finished in 1368.
When the Popes returned to Rome, Avignon was governed for them by a Legate, who was displaced in favour of the Republic in 1797.
The Palace of the Popes is well situated for defence. It stands on the top of an abrupt rock, round the base of which, on the north, sweeps the deep and rapid current of the Rhone. The rock is perpendicular all round the east and south sides, and is thus cut off from the town; while on the west, where alone the site is approachable, the access is steep, and is protected by the lofty and menacing walls of the Palace (see Plan, Fig. 49).
The Church of Notre Dame des Doms (A) occupies the summit of the rock, and is of much older date than the Pope’s Palace. The porch of this church (Fig. 47) is extremely interesting as an example of Provençal architecture so strikingly ancient in character as to have been long held to be a classic structure of the Lower Empire. It exactly resembles a Roman design in its general idea, forming, as it were, a compartment of a classic edifice, with a fluted Corinthian column at each side, and an arched doorway or opening between. On the columns rests an entablature, and the whole is crowned with a triangular pediment. The Corinthian capitals, the cornices with egg and leaf enrichments, the mouldings, imposts, &c., are all strikingly Roman in character. The inner doorway to the church is similar. Mérimée points out that the size of the stones used in this porch does not correspond with Roman work, being smaller than Roman large work and larger than Roman small work. Also that the stones of which the columns are composed are
wrought with tails bonded into the wall (alternating right and left), which he regards as contrary to classic practice. The bull’s-eye of the tympanum is also not Roman, but might be an addition. It is probable that the sides of the porch were originally open.
The date of this porch has been the subject of much discussion; but it seems most likely that it belongs to the early part of the eleventh century. It was at that date that architecture began slowly to revive; and this is probably one of the first efforts. Designers would then naturally fall back on the classic forms, of which examples were abundant around them. There are many instances in which the early mediæval architecture can be traced to Roman structures found in their vicinity. We have already met with one striking example at St Paul-trois-Châteaux; and it was previously shewn how the gates of Autun influenced the architecture of a large district, in which pilasters, copied from those of the Porte d’Arroux, are universally used instead of round shafts. We shall also presently see how the dome-topped campaniles of Provence are also copied from Roman monuments, such as that at St Remy; and how in almost all the churches throughout Provence Roman columns, caps, cornices, mouldings, and enrichments are freely imitated. But these imitations are generally incomplete, and invariably contain defects or omissions, which shew that they are imperfect copies, and not real Roman work. Such imperfections affect the details rather than the general style. In the instance before us, it is stated that the cornice of the antique part of the tower above the porch is copied exactly from that of the attic of the Arch at Orange.
The interior of Notre Dame des Doms is an example of an early Provençal church, but not a very favourable one, as it has been frequently altered and added to. The choir is of 1671, and the lateral chapels are of the fourteenth century, while Renaissance balconies in marble have been added in front of the gallery, over the side aisles.
In the choir is a remarkable chair of the twelfth century, in white marble, which was the seat of the Pope; and the tomb of John XXII. (Fig. 48), in one of the side chapels, is a fine specimen of the imported Northern Gothic style.
The tower, partly destroyed in the fifteenth century, was repaired in 1430; and the colossal statue of the Virgin was added in 1859.
The walls of the interior were once decorated with frescoes by Simone Memmi, but they are now almost obliterated; and the interior is so dark, that the few fragments remaining cannot be seen.
Originally the church consisted of a single nave, without aisles, vaulted with a pointed barrel-vault, strengthened with transverse ribs and internal buttresses, being, as above explained, one of the arrangements common in Provence. The east end terminated with an apse, the bay in front of which is vaulted in a remarkable manner. A dome is frequently introduced in this position; but in the present instance, owing to the width of the bay being small compared to the width of the church, a square space on which to raise the dome could not readily be obtained. To
accomplish this, successive arches are thrown across between the transverse ribs, rising with the curve of the latter and advancing over one another, till the central space becomes a square, on which a lantern, with eight Roman-looking columns, is raised and supports an octagonal dome above.
In the twelfth century the rock, on the summit of which stands the Church of Notre Dame des Doms, was covered with habitations and gardens, which were dominated by the ancient castles of the Podestà and the Bishop. Pope Clement V., on his first arrival at Avignon, occupied the Convent of the Dominicans; and John XXII., in 1316, lived in the building which existed in his day where the Pope’s Palace now stands. In 1336 Benedict XII. demolished what his predecessors had erected, and rebuilt the northern part of the existing Palace (Plan, Fig. 49—from Viollet-le-Duc’s Dictionnaire), being the side next the Cathedral, on a grand scale, from plans by the architect Pierre Obreri. His works terminated at the “Tour de Trouillas,” or the great donjon (B) at the N.-E. angle, and is marked by another immense tower (B) at the west end of the range, called the “Tour de la Gache.”
The south face (E) of the northern courtyard, and the southern walls of enceinte were constructed under Pope Clement VI. It was also he who acquired the suzerainty of Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin from Queen Jeanne in 1347.
The southern front of the palace was completed by Pope Innocent VI., including the great Chapel, or Consistorial Hall (G), a building about 170 feet long by 50 feet wide, roofed with pointed and groined vaulting. The great tower (H) adjoining to the south contains the sacristy, &c. Urban V. levelled the space which forms the Cour d’honneur (D), excavating the platform out of the solid rock. Owing to the slope of the ground, this court is about one story lower than the older northern court.
The same pontiff further erected the east wing, and added the seventh tower, called the Tour des Anges. Gregory XI. left Avignon and returned to Rome in 1376.
Avignon was thus occupied by the Popes from 1316 to 1376, or sixty years, during which time there reigned six Popes. They were all Southern Frenchmen, a circumstance which probably had considerable influence on the style of the architecture, which is undoubtedly quite that of Provence, and has small affinity with the style then in use in Italy, notwithstanding that the name of the architect Obreri sounds somewhat Italian. The construction, mouldings, vaults, and defences, are all in the style of Southern French work, and do not recall Italian features. The only Italian details are the paintings on the vaults and ceilings, said to have been executed by Giotto and Simone Memmi. Of these there are unfortunately only a few fragments left. The vault of the great Consistorial Hall was completely painted, but the building having been cut up into several floors in order to convert it into barracks (in which occupation it still remains), the faded and damaged condition of the paintings can well be conceived.
The Anti-Popes Clement VII. and Benedict XIII. occupied Avignon from 1379 to 1403. The latter was besieged in the palace by General Boucicaut in 1398. The Pope fled, but the palace did not capitulate till 1411. The buildings suffered severely from fires which occurred in 1378 and 1413.
The principal entrance to the palace is on the west side, and opens from an esplanade which commands the surroundings, and was formerly divided into several baileys or courts, with walls, towers and gates. The entrance gateway was defended with two portcullises, with folding gates and double machicolations. It had originally an advanced work in front, which was replaced in the seventeenth century by a crenellated wall. The appearance of the building, whether it be regarded externally or from the courtyard, is grand and imposing from its vastness and height. The towers and walls are, even in their present crippled condition, most commanding from their magnitude, the former being about 150 feet in height, while the walls rise to about 100 feet. On entering the great courtyard (D), evidence presents itself of the difference in level between it and the older northern court (C), in the rugged foundation on which the south front of the latter stands, the rock having been cut down, as above mentioned, to the level of the lower court. The frowning machicolations of that side, which look somewhat out of place in a Cour d’honneur, are explained when we remember that under Pope Benedict XII. this formed the exterior of the south face of the palace, before the south courtyard was added by Clement VI. and Innocent VI.
The most striking feature of the architectural details of the palace is the machicolations of the parapet. These consist in long grooves opening between the inside of the parapet and the external face of the walls, the parapet being carried on pointed arches thrown between buttresses which project at intervals (see Fig. 47). This form of machicolation (which we have already observed at Cruas) is much used in the southern provinces, perhaps from the prevalence of such works in the churches, most of which were fortified, and where the buttresses which existed for other reasons, were found convenient, and were thus utilized. These long machicolations have the advantage of allowing beams, and other lengthy missiles to be thrown down on assailants; but the frequently recurring broad buttresses or wall spaces, which have no defence immediately over them, are a drawback.
In the North these long grooves are very rarely used; a continuous series of machicolations between bold corbels being the form almost invariably preferred. At Avignon the towers were crowned with the latter kind of defences, as the relics of the broken corbels still shew.
The Cour d’honneur communicates freely with every part of the structure. To the right, on entering, is observed the arcade which contains the great staircase leading in two flights to the principal apartments on the first floor. Two posterns open from this courtyard, and these are carefully masked in the re-entering angles by buttresses, and defended with a portcullis. A staircase also leads to the upper courtyard.
The most ancient part of the palace is the Tour de Trouillas, at the north-east angle, an immense mass which towers above all the other works and formed the Keep.
The Pope’s apartments in the time of Urban V. were on the first floor of the buildings surrounding the Cour d’honneur. From the landing of the great staircase, which gave access to the principal apartments, passages were carried round the building in the thickness of the wall next the courtyard. These were carefully constructed and finished with pointed and groined vaults. They communicated with the various rooms, and also with several staircases which connected the different floors, and led to the defences on the roof. The apartments of the south court were also joined to those of the north court by these passages. The great kitchen was situated on the first floor of the building next the keep. It has a high pyramidal vault, which gives it a mysterious look, and perhaps led to its being long regarded as the chamber of torture and hall of execution of the Inquisitors. The banqueting hall was in the north court, near the kitchen and the keep. The smaller tower (M) in the centre of the east flank (now called the Salle de la Justice) contains in two floors some admirable paintings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which are in a fair state of preservation.
The entire building is of the most massive masonry—the whole of the basement being vaulted and constructed so as to defy destruction.
Commencing with the great keep at the north-east angle, and proceeding round the palace by the west, south, and east, the towers occur in the following order:—north-east—Tour de Trouillas; north-west—Tour de la Gache, followed by the Tour de St Jean, Tour de St Laurent, Tour de la Cloche, Tour des Anges, Tour d’Estrapade.
One circumstance specially noticeable about the design of the palace of the Popes is the entire absence of effort after symmetry in the elevations, such as is generally aimed at in the case of the large palaces or halls of the late Gothic and Renaissance periods. Here the various blocks of building are simply placed where they are required, and the different levels and irregularities of the ground are made available in the most natural and convenient manner, with the result that the effect is delightfully varied and impressive from every point of view, and at every turning.[A]
The rock on the north side is almost perpendicular, but here also the access had a defence called the Tour St Martin, which is now removed. From this point slopes led down to the gate of the châtelet which protected the bridge over the Rhone.
The walls, with their gateways, which still encircle Avignon, were erected between 1348 and 1364 during the residence of the Popes in the city. These walls (Fig. 50.)) do not represent a very important defensive work, even for the time when erected; they are neither sufficiently high nor are the towers of suitable construction for a really strong enceinte. They are rather an outwork in front of the palace, which was itself a citadel of impregnable strength.
At Avignon, as in the South generally, and also in Italy the towers are square, and they are constructed with the side next the town left open, so that in case of being taken by an enemy they could not be held against the inhabitants. They are not built, as the towers on the walls of enceinte of the great castles were, of size and strength enough to stand an independent siege.
The large square towers occur at pretty wide intervals, and intermediate smaller turrets are occasionally introduced to strengthen the curtains between them. These are composed of two plain buttresses with a pointed arch thrown across between them near the parapet, behind which there is a long machicolation on the same principle as those of the Palace.
At the base of the wall, and between these buttresses, a bold slope or talus is introduced, with the double object of thickening the wall at a point where it might be attacked by sap, and also to intercept any stone balls or other projectiles thrown from the machicolation, and cause them to ricochet obliquely against “cats” or other engines brought up to assail the wall. The talus would of course be designed in every case of such a slope as might be best suited for defence, according to the nature of the lower part of the fortifications, whether a ditch or a rocky escarpment. The walls of Avignon were entirely surrounded with a wet ditch above 20 yards wide, and 15 feet deep below the crest of the counter-scarp. The ditch was supplied with water from the Rhone, the Sorgue, and branches of the Durance. Of the two last rivers the former joins the Rhone above and the latter below Avignon. The bottom of the ditch was paved to enable the sludge to be cleaned out. The ditches have now been completely filled up, and the spaces outside the walls converted into a public promenade.
The towers, as above remarked, are for the most part of the square form generally adopted in the South, as distinguished from the round form which was usually employed in the North. The latter was considered safer, from its not presenting, like the square towers, any flat surface unprotected by the adjoining curtains against which miners could operate in comparative safety.
The parapet is carried on very bold corbels of four and five courses in height, with pointed arches between them. The corbels at the angles being set diagonally, have a rather greater projection than those at right angles to the wall, and have therefore an additional course in the height. The arches adjoining the angles would naturally be wider than those on the faces, but to obviate this the corbels next the angle ones are slightly inclined towards them, so as to equalise the width of the openings. This is the general rule in all square towers of this description.
The gates of the town are simple arched passages passing through square towers, being a type of gateway of frequent occurrence in the South. They are not protected with flanking towers or angle turrets, such as are invariably employed for greater security in the North. The gate-towers were defended with châtelets on the outer side of the fosse. Of these, the “Porte St Lazare” on the north-east side of the town is the best preserved. This had a forework attached to the gateway which protected the drawbridge. The latter descended on a landing which formed a detached square barbican, fortified with a parapet and angle turrets, and surrounded with a ditch. From this outwork another drawbridge in one of the sides, and therefore at right angles to the main gateway, gave access to the exterior roadway. This gateway was destroyed by an inundation of the Durance in 1358, and was reconstructed in 1364 by Pierre Obreri, the architect of the Papal Palace.
The gateways of Provence, such as those of Orange and Marseilles, were usually similar in design to those of Avignon. At Carpentras and Aigues Mortes examples still exist of gateways pierced in square towers without flanking towers or turrets.
Pont St Bénezet.—The two opposite banks of the Rhone were generally in ancient times in the hands of different superiors. Thus, in the fourteenth century, while the Comtat Venaissin on the east belonged to the Popes, the opposite side of the river formed part of the kingdom of France. In order to protect the different domains castles were erected at both ends of the bridge which connected them.
The bridge of St Bénezet (Fig. 51), which united Provence with the west side of the Rhone opposite Avignon, is said to have been built by Petit Benôit, a shepherd of the Vivarais, who believed himself inspired with a mission to carry out this great project. Benôit became the chief of a society of “hospitaliers,” instituted in the twelfth century for the purpose of building bridges, establishing ferries, and assisting travellers. He had already constructed a bridge at Maupas, when in 1178 he instigated the great undertaking of bridging the Rhone opposite Avignon. This he began in 1178 and finished in 1188. The bridge was almost 1000 yards long, and the roadway is about 16 feet wide including the parapets. Like the Pont St Esprit it forms an obtuse angle against the stream, and the centre rests on a flat island in the middle of the river. There were 18 arches in all, including those on the island. The piers are of a long low form, and their sharp beaks project a considerable way up and down the river beyond the bridge, giving the whole, as seen from the heights of the Rocher des Doms, very much the appearance of a bridge of boats. The alternate piers seem to have had recesses for allowing vehicles to pass, and all had archways above the level of the beaks to allow the passage of the flood waters of the Rhone which are sometimes excessive. The arches are slightly elliptical, or egg-shaped, which renders them stronger at the apex than the semicircle would be. They are constructed with four rings of arch stones in the width of the bridge, formed with carefully cut voussoirs—each ring being separate from, but placed close alongside of, the others. This idea was probably derived from the system adopted in the Roman Pont du Gard (as above explained), which is not far distant.
The bridge was cut for defensive purposes in 1395, during the siege of Avignon. It was probably thereafter imperfectly repaired, and in 1602 three of the arches fell; in 1633 two other arches gave way, and in 1670 two more. It is now reduced to the three arches adjoining the châtelet on the side next the town.
On the pier nearest the land still stands a picturesque chapel dedicated to St Nicholas (Fig. 51). The floor of this chapel being on the level of the top of the pier was considerably below that of the roadway of the bridge; but the building was so contrived that passengers on the bridge could see down through an arcade into the interior. Access to the chapel was provided by steps corbelled out on one side of the bridge. At a later period the structure has been raised and modernised.
The passage of the bridge was defended on the right bank by the Tower of Villeneuve, (Fig. 52), erected in 1307 by Philippe le Bel, under his architect Rodolphe de Meruel.
Like most of the work of this period, the walls are faced with stones square-dressed, but with the surface left rough. The tower is finished with the usual bold corbelling, machicolations, and angle bartizans, and is surmounted by a lofty watch-turret. It will be observed that the style of this French tower is that of the North, and differs materially from the towers of Avignon above described.
In order more completely to protect this part of his domains, Philip constructed, in the end of the thirteenth century, the important fortress of St André, immediately opposite Avignon, and close to the small town of Villeneuve-lez-Avignon. This citadel enclosed a large space occupying the summit of a rocky hill, and comprised numerous buildings, including a monastery. The extent of the fortress may be conceived, when it is noticed that enclosed within the walls, in different parts of the large space of vacant ground, may still be seen a convent, with its gardens, and a small town. A portion of the more ancient buildings still survives in the form of a small oratory (Fig. 53) of the twelfth century, with polygonal apse, having a circular arcade, and a cornice containing modillions after the classic manner. This great castle had but one gate, which opened to the southwards, on the only accessible side of the site. That gateway (Fig. 54) is a splendid specimen of military architecture, having a vaulted archway 13 feet in width, with finely moulded jambs and arches (Fig. 56). On either side is a large round tower, crowned with a machicolated parapet (Fig. 55). The vaulted passage through the gatehouse was defended at each end with a portcullis and folding gates. The apartments in the towers with round fronts, are large and finely vaulted with pointed groins, and the floors are all paved. The platform on the top is also of pavement resting on the vault below. The whole building is thus put out of danger from fire.
Over the central gateway, and above the towers, rises a large square turret, which was also vaulted and flagged on the top, and provided with a machicolated parapet. This platform, as well as those over the towers, were thus well adapted to receive the large catapults, mangonels, and other military engines in use in the fourteenth century. The diagonal walls which fill up the angles next the walls of enceinte contained staircases, &c., and are set at an angle so as to present a front against assailants approaching from the flanks. The round wells of the staircases were continued above the roof with round enclosures, which were visible above the parapet in the form of crenellated turrets.
The rooms in the gatehouse are well finished in ashlar work, and have ornamental chimneys, of which Fig. 57 is a specimen. That over the entrance gateway contained the apparatus for working the portcullis. These chambers have been used as political prisons at various times; and the unfortunate occupants have relieved their weary hours by carving all kinds of memoranda on the walls and floor, amongst which religious symbols and pictures mingle with armorial bearings, initials, and scraps of verse. These carvings are often well executed, and they form a very interesting, although melancholy exhibition.