Palais des Papes

The Palais des Papes in Avignon is the largest Gothic palace in the world and the finest surviving example of medieval papal architecture in Europe. During the 14th century, when political turmoil in Rome led the Catholic Church to relocate its headquarters, Avignon served as the seat of the papacy for 68 years (1309–1377), and seven popes oversaw the construction of this enormous complex on the Rocher des Doms. The palace covers 15,000 square metres and comprises two distinct wings: the austere Old Palace (Palais Vieux), built under Pope Benedict XII between 1334 and 1342, and the more richly decorated New Palace (Palais Neuf), completed under Clement VI by 1352. Visitors enter through the imposing Porte des Champeaux gateway into the Grand Courtyard (Cour d'Honneur), a vast open space of commanding scale that serves as the main stage of the Festival d'Avignon theatre programme each July. The interior circuit covers 15 to 20 rooms and typically takes 2 to 3 hours. The most celebrated room is the Chambre du Cerf — the Pope's study — whose walls retain an almost complete cycle of 14th-century secular frescoes depicting hunting, fishing, and bathing scenes painted by Matteo Giovanetti, representing some of the rarest surviving non-religious medieval painting in France. The Great Chapel (Grande Chapelle) stretches 52 metres in length, and the Clementine Chapel preserves original Giovanetti frescoes depicting the life of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist. The Treasury towers display reconstructed vaulted spaces evoking the economic reach of the Avignon papacy. Every visitor receives a multimedia tablet guide (available in 11 languages and included in the admission price) that projects digital reconstructions of the bare stone rooms as they appeared when furnished, making the stripped interiors dramatically easier to interpret. The exterior Place du Palais facade — sheer white Provence limestone rising in Gothic towers — is best photographed in the late afternoon when the setting sun strikes the western face directly. Accessible rooftop terraces offer panoramic views over Avignon's rooftops toward the Rhône and the remaining arches of the Pont d'Avignon below.