Stroll in Avignon

The Saint Didier church is a beautiful architectural example of the meridional gothic style valued during the Pope's time. The church was edified between 1356 and 1359. The massive church tower with six cants, harmoniously proportionned, caracterize the Avignon gothic style. It overhangs the Saint Didier square. Inside the church, the architecture is sober, inspired by the Cistercian art then influential in the pontifical court.

The Saint Didier church holds some treasures : the relics of Saint Bénézet, the Avignon medieval bridge builder, the relics of Saint Pierre de Luxembourg, and a magnificent retable made in 1476 by Francesco Laurana for the king René, Count of Provence.

Mansions of the rue du Roi René

The "rue du roi René" is a narrow and winding street. It shelters yet the façades of three among the most beautiful mansions in Avignon. They were built in the 17th century, when Avignon boasted about the title of "Altera Roma". The style is italian, copied on what was done then in Roma.

You must lift one's head to admire the façade of the mansion "hôtel Berton de Crillon" (1649), listed as historical monument in 1915. The mansion "hôtel Fortia de Montreal" dates from 1637, and the mansion "hôtel d'Honoratti de Jonquerettes" was built in the 18th century.