Palais des Papes: For 68 Years, This Was the Centre of Western Christianity

Between 1309 and 1377, the papacy relocated from Rome to Avignon. Seven consecutive popes lived here, moved by a combination of Italian political instability and French royal pressure. The palace built for them is consequently enormous: the largest Gothic building in Europe at 15,000 square metres across two main construction phases, a self-contained citadel within the city walls. The walls in some sections are four metres thick.

The internal decor is largely stripped out. Wars, the French Revolution, and a long period as a barracks emptied the state rooms of their furnishings and much of their decoration. What remains is vast and austere and occasionally beautiful: the Chambre du Cerf (Stag Room), the Pope’s private study, still has 14th-century frescoes of hunting and fishing scenes that give an unusual window into how secular the papal court’s private taste could be. The Grand Tinel, the main banqueting hall at 48 metres long, is simply enormous and empty.

The building benefits from context. Knowing that the Avignon papacy was deeply controversial – the Italian poet Petrarch called it the “Babylonian Captivity of the Church” – makes the scale of the palace more interesting. The popes were not hiding; they were demonstrating power.

Visiting

Entry is 12 euros for adults; a combined ticket with Pont Saint-Benezet (the bridge) costs 15.50 euros. The self-guided visit includes an audio guide and takes around 1.5 to 2 hours. Open daily, with reduced hours in winter.

The rooftop terrace is included in the standard visit and gives clear views over the old city and toward the Rhone. The walls’ thickness becomes physically apparent walking along the upper levels.

Pont Saint-Benezet

The bridge that the old French song is about – “Sur le Pont d’Avignon, l’on y danse…” – ends in the middle of the Rhone. About half the original 22 arches survive; the rest were destroyed by floods in the 17th century. Walking to the far end and looking back at the palace and city walls is the correct experience. The chapel of Saint-Nicolas, balanced on a pier mid-river, is a 12th-century structure worth examining up close.

The Old City

The Avignon Festival in July (three weeks of performing arts across the city, one of Europe’s largest) doubles accommodation prices and fills every bed months ahead. The rest of the year is considerably more manageable.

The Musée du Petit Palais, at the north end of the main square facing the palace, holds Italian medieval and early Renaissance painting. Free or low-cost admission, very lightly visited compared to the palace.

Les Halles on Place Pie is the covered market, open Tuesday to Sunday mornings, with fresh Provencal produce. For dinner, La Mirande is the upscale option (60 to 80 euros for a full dinner in a 14th-century mansion). For something more reasonable, the streets around Place des Carmes and Place Saint-Didier have restaurants that actual Avignon residents use.

Avignon TGV from Paris takes 2.5 hours. The station is outside the walls, a 15-minute walk from the palace.