Bénézet, Saint

▪ French bridge builder

Latin  Benedictus  

born c. 1165

died c. 1184, ; feast day April 14

      builder who instigated and directed the building of the Pont d'Avignon over the Rhône River at Avignon, France.

      An uneducated shepherd, Bénézet claimed that he was divinely commanded to build the bridge at a point where the force of the Rhône was so great that it had discouraged even Roman engineers in antiquity. The bishop of Avignon, at first skeptical, finally approved the project, and work began in 1177. Bénézet reputedly overcame many obstacles miraculously. He died four years before the bridge was completed and was buried in a chapel built on one of the piers. After almost 500 years, his body was removed and his relics are at Saint-Didier in Avignon.

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