AVIGNON, capital of the department of Vaucluse, south-east France, 143m. S. of Lyons on the railway to Marseilles. Pop. 45,089. It lies on the left (east) bank of the Rhone where rising ground banks the river on both sides and gives de fensible sites (Avignori' on the east and Villeneuve-les-Avignon on the west). There is also an island (Ile de la Barthelasse) in the river between them. A few miles below Avignon the Durance reaches the Rhone from the east, and the city is a nodal point for roads from this valley and the east side of the Rhone generally. Villeneuve is similarly a focus of roads on the west. The division of the river somewhat reduced the difficulty of crossing and helped to give the site its importance. The power of the Rhone is so great that a bridge could not be built in antiquity even by the Romans, but in 1177-85 St. Benezet built one which was broken down and repaired at various times but was abandoned in 1680. As much of the bridge as was supported by the four arches nearest Avignon still stands and has on it the original Romanesque chapel (with i6th century portions above) dedi cated, as usually happens on such sites, to St. Nicholas. Some what lower down the river a suspension bridge crosses from Avignon to Villeneuve. Avignon (Avenio) was an important site of the Gallic Cavares, and under the Romans a leading city of Gallia Narbonensis. Severely harassed by barbarians and Sara cens, it later belonged successively to the kings of Burgundy and of Arles and to the counts of Provence, of Toulouse, and of Forcalquier. At the end of the 12th century it became a republic, but in 1226 it was dismantled by Louis VIII. as punishment for its support of the Albigenses, and in 1251 was forced to submit to the counts of Toulouse and Provence. Pope Clement V. made it his residence, and from 1309-77 it was the papal seat. In 1348 the city was sold by Joanna, countess of Provence, to Clement VI. After Gregory XI. had migrated to Rome, two antipopes, Clement VII. and Benedict XIII., resided at Avignon, from which the latter was expelled in 1408. The town remained in the possession of the popes, who gov erned it by means of legates, till its annexation by the National Assembly in 1791, when conflicts between, the adherents of the pa pacy and the republicans led to much bloodshed. The ramparts built by the popes (14th cen tury) are very fine, with machi colated battlements, towers, and gateways, and they are sur rounded by boulevards. The town is traversed by the Cours de la Republique, with the hotel de-ville on the Place Georges Clemenceau and the Place du Palais outside the enceinte in which. on a rocky hill, stand the cathedral and the palace of the popes. The Romanesque (13th century) cathedral (Notre Dame des Doms) contains the mausoleum of Pope John XXII., a masterpiece of 14th century Gothic work; the church has been much altered and is more or less dwarfed by the fortress palace of the popes begun in 1316 by John XXII. in the Gothic style and continued till 1370. It now belongs to the city. Among the minor Gothic churches of the town are St. Pierre, with grace ful facade and richly carved doors, St. Didier, and St. Agricol. Avignon suffers severely in winter from the mistral winds. Jean Althen, a Persian, introduced in 1765 the culture of the madder plant which long formed the staple and is still an important branch of local trade. There are flour mills, oil-works, and leather works. Soap and chemicals are manufactured, and wine, teasels, and almonds traded, while the town is well-known for its sarsanet and other fabrics. Avignon was a bishopric in the 3rd century and became an archbishopric in 1475. It has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a council of trade arbitrators, and a chamber of commerce.