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Saint Bénézet
He built a famous bridge.
In Avignon, a town in the south of France, you will find the ruins of a very famous bridge.
The bridge is known as le Pont d'Avignon or le Pont Saint-Bénézet and it was built across the River Rhône between the years 1177 and 1185.
Originally, it was a very long bridge standing on twenty-two arches. It was about 900 metres in length.
Eventually, the bridge fell into very poor condition and now only four arches remain, as you can see below.
The Story of the Bridge:
A twelve-year-old shepherd boy called Bénézet saw angels who told him to build a bridge across the dangerous river where many people had drowned. He went to tell the bishop of Avignon - l'évêque d'Avignon - about his vision but everyone laughed at him.
The bishop challenged him to lift a giant rock and to throw it into the river, in order to prove that God was giving him strength. The little shepherd boy did indeed lift the heavy stone all by himself, threw it into the river and declared that it was the first stone of the bridge that he was going to build.
Everyone changed their mind! This was a miracle! How could a little boy manage so easily to lift a rock that required thirty people to lift it? They now saw that the boy's strength had come from God and decided to help Bénézet to build the bridge.
The shepherd boy is now known as Saint Bénézet and many Christian pilgrims visit the bridge that he built.
Bénézet died young from exhaustion, at the age of around eighteen years. He did not live long enough to see the finished bridge which was completed a year or so after his death.
He was laid to rest in the chapel of Saint-Nicolas that is constructed on the side of the bridge. Later, his resting place was moved to the church called la Collégiale Saint-Didier d'Avignon.
Saint Bénézet's feast day is 14 April. He is also known as Petit Benoît.
Saint Bénézet is the patron saint of architects because of the great bridge that he built.
He is often seen in images as a shepherd boy carrying a heavy stone.
Une Chanson - A Song
There is a famous French song about people dancing on the bridge.
It is called 'Sur le pont d'Avignon.'
The rules when singing the song:-
Everyone moves in a big circle, holding hands. Then, there is a part of the song where everyone stops for the boys to bow and the girls to curtsey.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse tout en rond.
Les petits garçons font comme ça. (The boys bow.)
Les petites filles font comme ça. (The girls curtsey.)
Les petits garçons font comme ça. (The boys bow.)
Les petites filles font comme ça. (The girls curtsey.)
Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse tout en rond.
Merci Saint Bénézet!
Thank you for your amazing bridge.
Merci mille fois!
Famous French People
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