The scene resembles nothing so much as a city ruined by
bombardment or earthquake, but how long the wreck will remain in its
present picturesque and melancholy condition is difficult to forecast. The
state is slowly buying out the owners, and doubtless ere many years are
passed the more valuable artistic remains will have been swept and
garnished and restored.
As we return from the Chartreuse we turn left along the Place Neuve, and
climb to the mighty fort of St. Andre, which occupies the most venerable
site in the royal new city, for on the hill where it stands tradition
relates that St. Cesarie, Bishop of Arles, was buried, and that there, in
the sixth century, the first Benedictines settled. The primitive
settlement, destroyed in the ninth century, was extensively rebuilt in
980, and within its walls, churches were dedicated to St. Andrew, St.
Michael, and St. Martin. In the twelfth century the rich and powerful
monastery, a strongly fortified, self-sufficing community, was held under
the counts of Toulouse, and from their overlordship it was subsequently
admitted by the counts to be within the territory of the republic of
Avignon, whose consuls in 1210 compelled the abbot to demolish his walls
and promise never to rebuild them.
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