A Day in Avignon

On Thursday, April 12, 2012 I took the Historic Preservation students to Avignon.  We made arrangements to visit the Ecole d'Avignon, a school that teaches the traditional skills of decorative painting and lime finishes.  Isabelle Rolet is one of the instructors and our host for the day.  She is a decorative painter who specializes in faux painting.  She explained that students who achieve a certain level of expertise are awarded a certificate that enables them to work on French monuments.  In the morning she showed us the school which is housed in what was the residence of a Cardinal in the 14th century.  We couldn't help but compare SCAD's HP facility in the Thomas Center with the Ecole d'Avignon's rehabbed space in the Cardinal's residence.  We also observed one of the workshops that was in progress.  In the afternoon she took us on a walking tour of Avignon.  Along the way she pointed out a few sensitively done restorations and a lot of insensitively done projects.  The two biggest problems are related to masonry--the use of modern cements and the removal of rendering (stucco) that protects the stone walls.  Most of the Medieval structures were covered with stucco, often in several colors--usually red and orange.  Sometimes the stucco was scored to look like stone.  Many property owners in the walled historic city removed the stucco to expose the stone beneath to make the house look older.  Removal of the stucco only exposes the stone walls to moisture penetration resulting in an accelerated rate of deterioration.  Avignon is a fascinating city.  The streets are narrow and winding.  However, a resident of the 14th century would not recognize the place.  It has become a monochromatic city above the shops when it was once full of color.  Here are a few images I took of our day in Avignon.

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Isabelle is talking to the SCAD historic preservation students about the Ecole d'Avignon.  The school was founded in the mid 1980s and has an international reputation.

Vaulted rooms in the Cardinal's residence.  The school is using it as a storage room.

I believe this was the Cardinal's chapel.  The space is used every summer for the Festival d'Avignon.

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Isabelle is describing the various techniques for faux painting--wood and marble.

Students (in lab coats) at the Ecole d'Avignon in one of the workshops.

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People have lived in the region since the Neolithic period.  The city was strategically located on a rocky bluff overlooking the Rhone River.  The Cavares settled in on the bluff and the city expanded.  The Romans realized the importance of this position and built fortifications around the town.  There was a flourishing town during the Gallo-Roman Period known as Avenio.  After the Roman period the town declined and was overrun by the Moors.  It flourished once again during the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries when it formed a small city state under the control of three counts, however, Louis VIII seized the city and torn down its defenses, including the fortified houses and sections of the St. Benezet bridge (c. 1180) that crossed the Rhone River.  Avignon recovered and prospered under the House of Anjou.  Early in the 14th century the Pope moved to Avignon to get away from the political battles in Rome.  The French king was anxious to have the Pope in his territory and under his protection.  Cement V (a French Pope) decided to establish the Papal court in Avignon.  Seven French Popes succeeded themselves at Avignon.  Pope Benedict XII built the Papal Palace and Clement VI who purchased Avignon from Queen Joan I of Sicily and Countess of Provenance in 1348.  Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1376.  However, the French Cardinals were not happy and returned to Avignon and elected another Pope and then there were two Popes.  However, Benedict XIII lost the support of the King of France and fled and then there was one Pope.  During the 14th century the Popes fortified the city and built a university and many other religious institutions.  The Cardinals built enormous palaces.  The city grew, perhaps too fast as the poet Petrarch wrote it is "the filthiest of cities, horribly windy, badly constructed, no conveniences, a hell for the living".

Cathedral Notre Dame des Doms

Main entrance to the Cathedral

Early wall painting in the Cathedral

Vaulted ceiling in the Cathedral

Palace of the Popes (14th c.).  Notice the modern structure immediately to the right of the palace.  This was my hotel last summer (Hotel Mercerie)

Church of St. Peter

Beautiful wooden door of the church

Original wooden doors

Interior of the church

An early medieval structure with 18th century windows on the second floor.  Fragments of the original windows can be seen just to the right of the 18th century windows.

Some of the student made masks and decided to display them near the Tourist Office.

Faux painting on one of the structures on the main road

The connector between these two historic structures is covered with mirrored glass.

Bridge of St-Benezet and the city walls.  Note, the land on the other side of the Rhone river is actually an island.  The original bridge had twenty-two arches as it traversed both sections of the river and the island.

Theater (19th c) next to the Town Hall

An early structure that was "restored".  Unfortunately the owners decided to remove the original stucco surface that was protecting the stone.  Now you can see that the mortar has eroded and some of the stones are ready to fall off the structure, particularly at the top.

The French Rococo structure has its original stucco surface.  It is hard to see in the photo, but there is an orange and red finish on the surface.

Excursions to Nimes, Pont du Gard, and Pont du Julien

Last Friday, April 6, 2012 we chartered a bus and took all fifty-five students and five faculty members to Nimes and Pont du Gard.  On Saturday, March 31, 2012 we took the students to Pont du Julien for a picnic lunch after spending the morning at the open market in APT, a neighboring mountaintop city.  I am including images from both excursions in this blog.

Nimes was an important Roman city, however, the hilltop overlooking the town was first occupied during the late Bronze Age.  The city expanded during the Iron Age because of its trading links with the Greek town of Massalia (Marseilles).  The Romans conquered the region in 121 BC and constructed the main east-west route between Italy and Spain called the Via Domitia and later the main north-south route.  Nimes was at the intersection of these important transportation routes.  To protect them the Romans built a strong military post in Nimes.  Nimes grew as it became a vital mercantile and administrative center.  The Emperor gave the city special governmental status and certain privileges to its citizens.  Although Narbonne was the official capital of the province, Nimes eclipsed it in commercial and cultural importance  until the end of the Roman rule.  In the meantime, Augustus granted land to veterans of his Egyptian and other African campaigns.  The military unit's symbol was a crocodile tied to a palm tree.  The city continues to use the symbol on streets and signs.  In the height of its popularity, the city was surround by a high wall more than 6 km long.  It contained more than 30,000 inhabitants.  

Maison Carree.  The most complete Roman temple that survives in the region is the Maison Carree or Square House.  It was built under Augustus in the late 1C BC and was inspired by the Temple of Apollo in Rome.  It was consecrated to the Imperial Cult and dedicated to Augustus's grandsons.  The temple faced the Forum.  It was constructed with finely carved engaged and freestanding columns.  The pure lines of the building, its harmonious proportions, and the elegance of its fluted columns fascinated Thomas Jefferson who was influenced by this building in his design for the Virginia State Capital in Richmond. Like most temples, the Maison Carree has a portico.  This one is defined by ten free-standing Corinthian columns.  The interior consisted of one large room, the cella, which was accessed by a wide set of fifteen steps from the street.  The column capitals, entablature, cornice, and pediment are decorated with acanthus leaves, bouquets and geometrical moldings in high Corinthian style.  The temple has been in constant use since its construction.  At times it has functioned as a church, stable, store, archive, and now a museum.  Unfortunately, nothing of the original interior survives.

Amphitheater.  The Roman arena in Nimes is similar to the one in Arles.  They are both modeled after the one in Rome.  All three date from the same time period (late 1C, early 2C) and have roughly the same dimensions and layout.  The one in Nimes is believed to have been able to hold around 25,000 people.  The structure was built of a good quality limestone.  The arena hosted many gladiator events until such entertainment was forbidden in 404.  The Visigoths turned it into a fortress with towers and dug a deep moat around it.  Like the arenas in Rome and Arles, many of the seats have disappeared, but it is wonderful to see how the structure was built.  From the upper portion it is easy to see how it all worked.

Temple of Diana.  Although the temple is in ruins, it provides a wonderful opportunity to see how these structures were built.  The temple formed part of the sacred complex that also included a theater.  Little is know about this structure.  It has features that suggest that it may have been used as a library.  It may have been built during the Augustan period and modified in C2 AD.  It survived as a church until the Wars of Religion in the C16 when it fell into ruins.

The water supply for Nimes was brought from Uzes by an aqueduct only part of which survives.  The Pont du Gard was an important link in the aqueduct system.  It is an amazing structure.

Pont du Julien.  The stone bridge is located near Bonnieux.  It is a key bridge over the Coulon river which in the Roman period was navigable.  The road is part of the Via Domitia.  The bridge is 68 m long and is constructed with three different sized arches.  The two large openings in the piers were designed to help relieve water pressure when the river flooded. 

Views of Lacoste and one of our projects

Classes started on Monday.  I am teaching two classes at Lacoste and one online.  The two in Lacoste are: Preservation Rehabilitation (6 graduates and 3 undergraduates) and International Preservation Technology (6 graduates and 4 undergraduates).  Tomorrow all classes will go on a field trip to Nimes (amphitheater and Maison Carree)  and Pont du Gard (Roman aqueduct).

I am posting photos of streets scenes of Lacoste and the structure the Rehab class is working on, Le Temple (the Protestant church in Lacoste).

This was the bakery.  It is now the SCAD

Library.

The clock tower--the bell rings all night long.

Center of town/the post office is the large rectangular structure on the left.  The Catholic church is behind the post office.  Tuesday morning there is an open market in the parking lot.

Le Temple, once the Protestant church, now owned by the city and used for public events (i.e., movies, art exhibits, lecturer, etc.).  There is very little information about the church.  We think it was constructed in the late 19th century.  It is located outside the city walls.  The Luberon Valley was the center of many religious battles during the 16th and 17th centuries.  My rehab class will measure the structure and prepare measured drawings.  We will redesign the interior spaces--large open space on the first and second floor that do not reflect the historic structure.

There was an earlier Protestant church inside the city walls, but it was destroyed by the Duke of Savoy in the 1650s.

Chelsea and Beth sketching architectural features on the front of the church.

Lori and Sara are measuring the east elevation.  They are about ten feet below the street level.  The ground drops off sharply just to the left of the iron fence.  We notice several caves under the church.  Next week we will come with flashlights and explore the caves,

Katie and Kelly are measuring the front steps.  In the evenings the students are working on the CAD drawings.