Avignon, the Papal city, from camping in Provence

The days of the Popes somewhat eclipses the other facts of the long and tumultuous history of Avignon.

At the crossroads of major trade routes and migration between northern Europe and South and between Italy and Spain, the city played a major role in European history.

Roman, then invaded by barbarians, Arabs and Capetian France Middle Ages it was not until the arrival of Pope Clement V in 1309 that allowed by the Dominicans will make this city the new capital of Christianity for a century ..

With increased trade, taking advantage of its strategic location and its bridge over the Rhone, it was a free town, powerful enough to defy the royal authority. The installation of the Popes was the religious capital of medieval Europe in the fifteenth century.

The prosperous economy, it is based on the cultivation of tobacco, the manufacture of silk, printing.

But that prosperity rests on shaky ground, it remains subordinate to the political situation, according to reports from the King of France and the pope.

Papal territory until the Revolution, Avignon profited little from the first industrial revolution.

Avignon returned in relative anonymity in the nineteenth century to be reborn as a cultural capital in the twentieth.
Avignon is today the home of Félibrige, Provencal literary revival. And its Festival Theatre, founded in 1946 by Jean Vilar gives it international exposure today.
Avignon is a city to visit during your holiday from the campsite Verguettes - Terraces du Ventoux.