Popes' Palace Avignon : Avignon Tourism

Description

Emblem of Avignon, the Popes' Palace overlooks the town and the river Rhone. Located on the Rocherdes Doms, it offers a fairly unique set of monuments including the Saint Benezet Bridge (or Bridge of Avignon), the Petit Palais, the Doms Cathedral, the imposing walls and finally the Pope's Palace and its four great towers.

Listed World Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 1995, the Palais des Papes is a witness to the power of the Popes and the influence of the Church on Western Christian Europe in the fourteenth century.

Built between 1335 and 1352, under the pontificate of Benedict XII and Clement VI, the Popes' Palace is the result of the overlapping of two buildings: the old palace and the new palace. The old palace of Benedict XII was a fortress that stands on the Rocher des Doms. The palace in its entirety, is the largest Gothic building in the Middle Ages, and the largest Gothic palace in the world!

Indeed, the palace consists of 15 000 m² of floor space. During the visit, we may find twenty different buildings: the consistory, the Benedict XII Cloister, the room of facing, Pope's room, Jesus's room, the chambre du Cerf, sacristie ... The Pope's private apartments were subject to an exceptional decoration : Italian artist Matteo Giovannetti from the Siena School made the frescoes and decorations.

The papal library in Avignon, the largest in Europe at the time with 2000 volumes, attracted many scholars, enthusiasts of literature from which Petrarch, poet and founder of humanism, would come from.

In this respect, papal land was the birthplace of many cultural movements. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the city saw the birth of painters such as Nicolas Mignard and Joseph Vernet. In the nineteenth century, men of letters such as poets Frédéric Mistral, Théodore Aubanel or created the Félibrige.

This cultural influence remained pervasive with the founding of the Theatre Festival of Avignon in 1947 by Jean Vilar. Throughout the year, the Papal Palace offers permanent cultural activities including exhibitions and educational themes, themed visits, concerts, dance ...

Today, the monument receives over 650,000 visitors a year. It is one of the 10 most visited monuments in France.

Website

(Distance < 1 km)
Info: The hotel du Palais des Papes enjoys an exceptional location, facing the monument, it stands on 3 floors and benefits from a completely pedestrian area.

Former Spanish Consulate, now listed monument, the generations of the same family......

(Distance < 1 km)
Info: This luxury hotel, dating back to 1309, is located in Avignon city centre. It offers 18th-century Enlightenment-style guest rooms with views through the antique windows overlooking the Palais des Papes.

Each of the soundproofed guest......

(Distance < 1 km)
Info: In the heart of the city, on the main square "Place de l'Horloge", 50 meters away from the Popes Palace and the famous bridge, our hotel provides 89 soundproof rooms, all with air-conditioning, minibar, safe in the room, satellite tv and Pay tv.......

(Distance < 1 km)
Info: Set in the heart of the Provence region, the hotel is ideally situated in a quiet district, near the Bridge of Avignon and the Pope?s Palace.

The hotel Mercure Pont D'Avignon features a lovely breakfast room under a glass roof and......

(Distance < 1 km)
Info: Set at the Place de l'Horloge, Kyriad Avignon-Palais des Papes is located in the pedestrian zone of the historical centre of Avignon. It offers air-conditioned rooms equipped with TV with Canal+, courtesy tray and free Wi-Fi access.