The Palace of the Popes is the world’s largest Gothic building and one of the best examples of the International Gothic architectural style, making it the most interesting and important site to visit in Avignon.
Constructed over 600 years ago, this remarkable palace ranks among the 10 most-popular sites in all of France with nearly 700,000 visitors per year, so you can understand why it is really worthwhile to pay admission and go inside. During the 14th century it was world headquarters for the Catholic Church, making this the most important center of power in Europe for a brief period. The grand palace had 15,000 square meters of covered living space, equivalent to 4 large Gothic cathedrals.
Avignon became a city of priests with churches, chapels, convents, monasteries and religious offices, yet joyously voluptuous, a moving pageant of luxurious banquets, beautiful women, ecclesiastical romps, saints and sinners -- planned for worldly profit and carried out with many sordid compromises, in the tradition of Roman popes.
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The exterior of the palace looks rather foreboding, expressing a primitive feeling of tremendous strength with the fortified walls looking more like a castle than a palace. The fortress had some analogy with the contemporaneous Moorish palace of the Alhambra in that it stood outwardly grim and strong, while within it was a shrine of exquisite and luxurious art, power, decadence and revelry. There was one banquet after another, continuous festivities and enjoyment for the popes and friends. It became a place of richness and beauty, the walls glowing with azure and gold. A legion of Gallic sculptors and Italian painters lavished their art on the embellishment of the palace. The indolent voluptuousness, worldly splendor and indulgences of the debauched clergy was notorious throughout Christendom.
After the French Revolution the church lost control, and it was then used as a gloomy prison and army barracks in the 18th and 19th centuries, furniture stripped, religion erased, statues smashed and walls whitewashed. It was opened to the public as a museum in the early 20th century but the interior remained barren and uninviting, robbed of its earlier beauty. If you had visited this palace even 30 years ago the rooms were quite empty and boring, but in recent decades the government has made tremendous improvements by creating exciting new exhibits in every room, converting this into a world-class historic exhibition.
Although the original furniture is gone, the massive structure is original, with cavernous rooms offering dozens of informative displays explaining the history. Just experiencing these authentic ancient rooms and courtyards would provide a rewarding visit, but your experience is greatly enhanced by numerous state-of-the art displays including seven videos, assisted reality displays on tablets, restored frescoes, period furnishings, sculptures, oil paintings, hundreds of artifacts, armaments, 3-D models, computer graphics, costumes, tapestries, jewelry, religious items, historic photos, special exhibits, kitchens, audio guides and detailed written descriptions. There is a lot on offer, with 25 rooms open to the public on various levels connected by steep staircases, and yet the displays do not overwhelm or obscure the building itself so you can fully appreciate the original architecture. It’s such a time warp you might expect a knight in armor to charge on horseback through the courtyard and up the ramp madly waving an axe.
This great Palace was constructed at the beginning of the 14th century to house the pope who had relocated here from the Vatican. Of course popes had lived in Rome for more than the first thousand years of the church, but in 1305 a Frenchman, Clement the Fifth, was elected pope and he did not want to leave France. For various political and security reasons he established his papacy in Avignon and six more popes served from Avignon, all of them French, until 1377 when the papacy returned to Rome.
Gregory XI, the last of the French Popes, returned to Rome, but with his death the “Great Schism” followed resulting in two popes competing for control. Clement VII, in Avignon, was recognized by France, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Sicily, and Cyprus, while Pope Urban VI, in Rome, was supported by Italy, Austria, and England.
After Clement VII, a second Anti-pope not recognized by Rome was installed, the insidious Benedict XIII, who proceeded to lead a life of such shocking decadence, anti-Semitism and scandal that the Church could endure it no longer, and Charles V sent soldiers to evict him from the palace. Benedict defended his position with such fierce determination he destroyed one of the arches of the Pont St. Benezet to cut off the approaches from the river. After a five-year siege and fierce fighting that destroyed hundreds of houses and killed four thousand inhabitants, the King's troops stormed the fortress, but the Anti-pope saved himself by means of secret passages and staircases leading to a vault in which he got to the river and escaped across the Rhone, seeking refuge under the protection of the King of Spain in his native country, hanging on obstinately with his hollow claims until death at 90. Those two Anti-Popes occupied Avignon from 1379 to 1403, including a brief period at the end in which three different popes all claimed the throne in 1409 due to the Council of Pisa -- chaotic times for the church and an ignominious end to the history of popes in Avignon. The palace home to bishops and papal officials for another 400 years during which Avignon prospered as a thriving mercantile city.
Although construction took place in phases during 1335-1355 the various structures are unified as one large and cohesive space, filled with harmony and grand Gothic features of ribbed vaulting, massive thick walls and high windows. Construction began as a palace in 1252 well before the popes ever arrived. Major construction commenced on this magnificent assemblage by Pope John XXII, followed by Pope Benedict 12th who built up what is today called the Old Palace on the north end of the site. A few years later Clement VI became the greatest builder, expanding it to create what is now known as the New Palace on the south side containing the Hall of the Audience and the Grand Chapel. Not a major builder, Clement VI used the wealth of the church to purchase Avignon from the Queen of Naples in 1347, effectively creating a sovereign city-state that remained property of the Vatican until united with France in 1791 following the Revolution.
Upon entering your first sight will be the vast outdoor courtyard, the Cour d'Honneur, surrounded by the massive palace walls reaching 100 feet high.
From the arcaded right side of this first courtyard you can enter the most impressive room, the Hall of the Audience, a huge space 150 feet long, 50 feet wide, with a 34 feet-high Gothic vaulted ceiling and massive stone pillars. This famous space could hold as many as 600 people, functioning as a banquet setting, Inquisition chamber, all-purpose room and reception hall to impress guests. Papal conclaves were convened there for electing new popes, like the Sistine Chapel today.
For half a century it held the chief law court of Christendom. The chamber is divided into two naves by five clustered pillars, from which the elegant ribs of the vaulted roof spread. It was once adorned with sumptuous Italian frescoes of which only 19 Old Testament figures and a sibyl alone remain in the southeast wall. It was probably in this hall that Clement VI received St. Catherine of Sienna, who played a major role several popes later in convincing Pope Gregory to return to Rome in 1377.
A staircase ascends to the Grande Chapelle directly above, with the same grand dimensions. The extraordinary plan of placing these two lofty chambers one above the other was a daring feat of building construction. The Chapel has no pillars, being one great nave, its 65 feet-high vault springing from engaged clustered columns that run up the walls between the windows, supported by the staircase and a large flying buttress outside the palace’s south end.
Adjacent, in the Tour St-Laurent, was a robing-room. The Tour de la Garde-Robe contains a room on the 3rd floor with frescoes (hunting and fishing), probably by Italian artists (2nd half of the 14th cent.). The adjoining Tour des Anges contained the treasury, the bedroom of Benedict XII, and the library, then Europe’s largest with 4,000 volumes. The Tour St-Jean contains two little chapels, one above the, other. The lower, that of John the Baptist, has remains of frescoes (Italian; 14th cent.); the upper is adorned with scenes from the life of St. Martial by Matteo Giovanetti of Viterbo.
Next, to the west, is a wing of the Consistoire and the large dining-hall, the Grand Tinel, the longest room in the palace with a soaring ceiling. The kitchen is at one end with a high pyramidal chimney vault, called the Tour Strapade, which imparts a mysterious look, and perhaps led to its being incorrectly regarded as the chamber of torture and hall of execution of the Inquisitors. Adjoining is the Glaciere, into whose underground cellars, now built up, the democrats of 1791 flung the bodies of 60 men and women they had murdered. At the northeast end, is the Tour de Trouillas, tallest and stoutest of the keeps of the mighty fortress, 175 feet high as compared with the 150 feet of the Tour de la Campane, and its walls fifteen feet thick. Nearby, enter the Salle d'Armes, with mural paintings by Simone Memmi of Sienna.
Ascending higher the grand staircase, we pass on the left the small window for the Spies, and then go along a narrow lobby tunneled in the wall, to a succession of large halls, the Galerie de Conclave, the Salle des Gardes, the Salle de Reception, and then enter the Tour St. Jean, containing the Chapelle du Saint-Office.
As one wanders through the open courtyards, chambers, passages, prisons, and chapels of the fortress palace, you realize this was a town within a town, a refuge of irresistible strength with a fascinating history. It may seem confusing but there are good signs with walking routes that will keep you organized and informed as you proceed.
It's really worth walking up to the rooftop observation deck for spectacular views of the palace and out across the rooftops of the old historic center of Avignon. To find this viewpoint just follow the signs for the terrace café, walking up several flights of steps and along a rooftop fortified row. And if you are there in the summer the café will be open so you can relax and have a drink while you're enjoying the view.
The view in the other direction takes in the scene of the Petit Palais which is now an art museum, and the Roche du Dome, a beautiful park where you can walk uphill to get a nice view looking out over the Rhône River.
One design element especially noticeable from this rooftop is the entire absence of symmetry in the building complex, such as is generally aimed at in the case of the large palaces or halls of the late Gothic and Renaissance periods. Its plan follows the irregular shape of the rock upon which it is founded. Here the various blocks of building are simply placed where they are required, and the different levels and irregularities of the ground are built upon in the most natural and convenient manner, creating a delightfully varied appearance, impressive from every point of view.
After visiting the palace, it is best to exit the palace back door, through the wine bar and gift shop, into the old neighborhood where ancient Romans first established their town 2,000 years ago. Notice the simple Roman ruins on the right side of the small square, Place de l’Amirande. Avignon became a thriving colony under the Romans but retains hardly a trace of their buildings except for the remnant of a small arch and paving here. Even before the Romans, Greeks were here and simpler prehistoric peoples lived in the area much earlier.
The streets beyond the Roman site, behind the palace towards the east side, are quiet, residential back alleys with few shops or sites off historic interest, only for energetic types who just want to keep walking. Most are better off returning towards the town center along an ancient lane adjacent to the palace, Rue Peyrollerie, dramatically carved into the bedrock. It's like you're walking through a natural canyon. Look above to see the massive flying buttress that holds up the wall of the Audience Hall where you began the palace visit.
There is one more museum for art-lovers to consider visiting, the Musee Calvet, containing a valuable collection of treasures with 500 paintings, many statues and classical antiquities, located at 65 rue Joseph Vernet, a lovely street passed earlier in the walk you would enjoy seeing again. Paintings in the great hall are by Albano, Bassano, Bourdon, Canaletto, A. Carracci, Caravaggio, David, Gericault, Holbein, Poussin, Ruysdael, Veronese, and Zurbaran. The marble busts of Horace and Carle are by Thorwaldsen. In the center of an inner room, containing the medals and engravings, is the famous ivory crucifixion, 27 inches long, of one piece, a masterpiece of the sculptor Guillermin in 1659. It is said that Canova stood in ecstasy over this delicate achievement in art.
In the outer court, and in the rooms and passages on the ground floor, are Roman altars, monuments, milestones, amphorae, and 170 Latin inscriptions, found in the neighborhood, but chiefly from Orange and Vaison. Among the sculptures in relief, one represents a Roman chariot drawn by two horses with their hoofs shod. There are 27 Greek inscriptions, 3d or 4th century. The statuary and sculpture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance have been gathered principally from the suppressed churches and convents. The most noticeable are the mausoleums of Pope Urbain V., of Cardinals Lagrange and Brancas, and of Marshal Palice. white marble. Upstairs is a valuable collection of Roman glass and bronzes, and 20,000 coins and medals, including a complete set of the seals and medals of the Popes during their residence at Avignon, and the seal used by the Inquisition while here.
