AVEZZANO. 



AVLONA. 



7SJ 



Add before mentioned ; there are also mine* of oulphur, alum, and 

 iron, and several large iron furnace* in the neighbourhood : population, 

 8076. Drcatrrmr, a large town which has sprung up since 1830, 23 

 mile* N.N.K. from Villefranche ; the inhabitant, who amount to 

 about 7000, are employed in the coal and iron mines and iron work* 

 of the neighbourhood ; there are several large furnaces here worked 

 by steam-power. Monlbaiau, 15 mile* N.E. from Villefranche : popu- 

 lation, 2983. ffajae, on the left bank of the Aveyron, has manufac- 

 tures of serges, linsey-woolseya, gray and scarlet cloth, and trades in 

 these together with hams, chestnuts, plums, figs, linen, and cattle ; 

 there is a very strong old castle on an eminence above the town : 

 population, 2070. JKeupeyrmur, IS miles S.E. from Villefranche, 

 has some linen factories and a population of 2700. Villrnrure, 

 6 miles K. from Villefranche, possesses a brisk trade in wine and 

 cattle : population, 3251. 



The department forms the see of the bishop of Rodez. There is a 

 diocesan seminary, an endowed college, a secondary ecclesiastical 

 school, a school for deaf mutes, and a primary normal school in the 

 city of Rodec ; communal colleges in 8t-Affrique, Espalion, Milhau, 

 8t-Gniez, and Villefranche ; and 344 primary and 319 boarding and 

 private schools are dispersed over the department. There is a con- 

 sistorial church in St-Affrique for the Calvinists and other reformed 

 sects, who have five temples or oratories in other towns of the depart- 

 ment. The department is included in the 10th Military Division, of 

 which Montpellier is head-quarters. 



(Oidionnaire dt la France ; Annuairt pour tAn 1853.) 

 AVEZZANO. [ABRt-zzo.j 



AVIGNON, the capital of the department of Vaucluse, in France, 

 the seat of tribunals of first instance and of commerce, of a chamber 

 of commerce and an exchange, of a council of Prud* Homines, of two 

 theological seminaries, of an endowed college and school of design, 

 and a lunatic asylum, is situated on the left bank of the Rhone, just 

 above the junction of the Durance, 426 miles S.S.E. from Paris, 

 7 miles by railway N.W. from Marseille, in 43 57' 5' N. lat, 

 4* 48' 37* E. long. : population, 33,844. The city has railway com- 

 munication with Cette also ; and a great trunk line now in course of 

 construction, and partly finished, will connect it with Lyon and Paris. 

 Avignon (in Latin Arcnio) is a very ancient city. It was in the 

 territory of the Cavares, from whom it was called Arenio Carnrum. 

 It came into the hands of the Romans at an early period of their 

 dominion in Gaul, and a Roman colony appears to have been esta- 

 blished here. Upon the downfall of the Western empire it wag 

 possessed by the Burgundians, and afforded to the king of that people 

 a secure asylum from the power of Clovis, king of the Franks, who 

 besieged it in rain. It subsequently became subject to the Ostrogoths, 

 Franks, and Saracens. Afterwards it came into the hands of the 

 kings of Aries and Burgundy. It was an object of contention between 

 the counts of Provence and Toulouse, who at last agreed to hold the 

 city conjointly and to divide its chief dependenciex between them. 

 Some of the dependencies however were held by the counts of Forcal- 

 quier; but the last of that family bequeathed his portion to the 

 citizens of Avignon, who were enabled by this accession to their 

 resources and by the dissensions of the counts of Provence and 

 Toulouse to acquire a kind of independence. But when the domains 

 of the two last-mentioned nobles came by marriage into the hands of 

 Charles and Alphonse, brothers of Louis IX. of France, Avignon was 

 obliged to submit It was at first divided between the two princes, 

 bat afterwards wax wholly included in the county of Provence. The 

 period of independence terminated in 1251, after subsisting less than 

 half a century. It had previously (in 1226) been taken by Louis VIII. 

 in the war against the Albigenses. 



In 1300, Pope Clement V., himself a native of France, removed his 

 court from Rome to Avignon, which continued to bo the papal 

 residence until Gregory XI. In 1376 left it to return to Rome. In 

 the schism which took place on the election of Urban VI., successor 

 of Gregory, Avignon became the residence of the anti-popes Clement 

 VII. and Benedict XIII. The latter was driven out in 1408 by the 

 French, who were tired of the schism. Clement VI. in the year 1348 

 purchased the city of Avignon from Joan, countess of Provence and 

 queen of Sicily ; and the sovereignty was retained by his successors 

 until it was seiied by the French in 1791, since which period Avignon 

 and its dependencies have belonged to France. 



Avignon is pleasantly situated in a valley, which is laid nut in 

 meadows, gardens, orchards, and mulberry plantations. The city is 

 surrounded on the land side by a promenade, planted with elms, 

 which runs outside the walla. It is traversed by a branch of the 

 Sorgue, and by a canal from the Durance, both of which drive the 

 machinery of several factories. In the 12th century a stone bridge 

 wms built over the Rhone, by which the city was joined to Villeneuve, 

 and the fortress of St. -Andre situated on a hill on the right bank of 

 the river. The work was undertaken and commenced by St. Bennexet, 

 then a shepherd-boy of eighteen, but ho did not live to see the comple- 

 tion of the work. It had twenty-five arches, and was regarded as a won 

 derful structure on account of the breadth, depth, and rapidity of UK 

 river. In the year 1669 it was almost entirely carried away by an 

 inundation, and only four arches, which still remain, were left entire. 

 The river is now crossed by a remarkably long wooden bridge. Fine 

 broad quays border the Rhone. The ramparts of the city are 



constructed of out stone, crowned with battlements, flanked with 

 square towers at regular distances, and pierced by handsome gate 

 entrances. These fortifications were erected by one of the papal 

 sovereigns of Avignon, and are more remarkable for elegance of 

 construction than for strength. 



While under the papal dominion Avignon had 60 churches and a 

 freat number of religious establishments, most of which no longer 

 exist. The cathedral crowns the summit of the rock of Doms, which 

 rises 194 feet above the Rhone, and is ascended from the town by a 

 ong staircase cut in the rock. It is by no means of uniform archi- 

 tecture. Its portal is supposed to have been removed from an ancient 

 temple of Hercules. The interior is adorned with many fine pictures 

 and sculptures; among the latter is a fine statue of the Virgin t.y 

 Pradier. Among the tombs which it contains are those of IV- 

 XII., John XXII., and '(Villon the Brave.' The church of the 

 Cordeliers was celebrated for the tomb of Laura de Sade, the Laura 

 of Petrarch. The same tomb contained also the body of her huKbiiml, 

 Huguea de Sade. The site of the church and its inclosure is converted 

 into a fruit-garden, and a small cypress-tree marks the spot where 

 Laura is interred. Of the churches which remain the most remark- 

 able are those of St-Agricol, St. -Pierre, and St-Martial, all of which 

 are adorned with fine pictures, sculptures, and carvings. But the 

 most remarkable structure in Avignon is the Palace of the Popes. It 

 is built on the southern slope of the rock of Doms. Its extent, 

 imposing grandeur, the thickness of its walls, which are 100 feet high, 

 ita numerous towers and means of defence, render it a model of the 

 military architecture of the 14th century. It is now used as a barrack. 

 The former mint is used for a similar purpose ; this is also a fine 

 building, and has a splendid facade. 



Avignon is still remarkable for the number of its charitable and 

 useful institutions. It has an infirmary (a branch of the Invalides in 

 Paris) for soldiers whose wounds require a milder climate than that of 

 Paris, a lunatic asylum, a college, two ecclesiastical seminaries, a 

 society of arts, an agricultural society, a fine collection of paii 

 and antiquities, a museum of natural history, a botanical garden, and 

 a public library of 45,000 volumes and 700 manuscripts. There is 

 also a society called the Academy of Vaucluse. 



The town is clean : the houses are of stone and well built ; but as in 

 all old towns some of the streets are narrow and crooked. The trade 

 of Avignon has made considerable progress for some yean past. 

 Silk stuffs of various kinds are largely manufactured; of taffeta 

 (florence) alone, 4,950,000 yards are annually made, the value of 

 which is estimated at upwards of 8,000,000 francs ; there are also a 

 cannon foundry, a foundry for sheet-iron, copper, and tin, a saltpetre 

 refinery, tanneries, paper mills, type foundries, cotton factories, and 

 various other industrial establishments in the town. Avignon has 

 also a large trade in books, corn, wine, brandy, madder, sumac, 

 colonial products, raw silk, and cattle. A great part of the trade of 

 Avignon is carried on through the port of Marseille, to and from 

 which goods are conveyed on the Rhone by way of Aries and liy 

 railway. There is a constant communication by steamers with Lyon, 

 Aries, and Marseille. 



The bishopric of Avignon dates from the 1st century of tin- 

 Christian era. In 1474 or 1475 Sixtus IV. raised the see to an 

 archbishopric. The suffragans of the archbishop of Avignon are the 

 bishops of Nlmes, Valence, Vivien, and Montpellier. The depart- 

 ment of Vaucluse forms his diocese. 



The county of Avignon (which with the county of Venaissin 

 formed the papal territory in France) at one time extended l\V"iid 

 the Durance, and as far as Tarascon. Whilst it belonged to the Holy 

 see it consisted merely of the city of Avignon and the adjacent com- 

 mune of Moricres and parish of Montfavet 



(IMctionnairc de la Pranct.) 



AVILA. [CASTIU.A I,A VIBJA.] 



AVILE& lAsTPRiAS.] 



AVLO'NA (Valona), a town in Albania, on the Gulf of Avlona, 

 which is bounded on the south by the Acro-Ccraun inn promontory, 

 now Cape Linguetta, and on the east by rouges of hills, oAutooisOx' ' li" 

 Albanian Mountains. The town is situated on the east side of the 

 gulf, about a mile and a half from the shore, in 40" 29' N. lat, 19 26' 

 K. long., and has about 8000 inhabitants. The long connection of 

 Avlona with Italy has given to it the appearance of an Italian town ; 

 the finest street is built more in the Italian than in the Turkish style : 

 the population however is almost entirely Mohammedan. Although 

 there is a Greek bishop of Avlona, yet the number of Greeks is few, 

 perhaps 30 families. There are 8 mosques and one Greek church in 

 the town. There are a few Roman Catholics, whose superior is the 

 bishop of Montenegro. The town supplies Upper Albania with gun 

 and pistol-barrels, glass, paper, and capotes, most of which arc imported 

 from Italy or from Austria. The exports are timber, gall-nuts, wheat, 

 niaice, wool, oil, and asphalte from the mines of Selenitza, on (In- ! It 

 bank of the Bojussa, about 8 miles to the north-east of Avlona. 

 The ground about the town as well as the hill-sides above it are 

 planted with olives. The north shore of the gulf is low an<l \\-\\ 

 wooded, except at the northern entrance, where there are some while 

 cliffs, separated from the plain by a shore lake, in which there are 

 salt-works. On the shore near the town there is a landing-wharf 

 defended by a small fort 



