Palais des Papes

Jan and Nancy kept to a leisurely pace on the Pont D'Avingon while Doug booked a noon visit to this Palace which is difficult to access by walker. The building is intact, but mostly barren. There are some surviving frescoes and sculptures, but the visit really comes to life with the use of the "Histopad" that uses tablets to show what each room would look like when it was 'new'.

When Clement V was elected Pope in 1305, he decided to transfer papal power to Avignon to avoid political unrest in Rome. He built on the foundations of an old Episcopal bishop palace, and the original buildings were expanded in 1334 and 1342. It is the largest medieval palace in the world. Each pope left his mark—the fortified palace has ten towers—and it came to symbolize the mighty influence of the Church. In 1376, Pope Grégoire XI reestablished the Holy See back in Rome, but two years later, upon his death, a new Italian Pope, Urban VI, was elected in Rome while opposing cardinals elected another pope, Clement VII, to rule from Avignon. The palace came to symbolize the rift in the Church called the Western Schism. This “antipope,” Clement VII, encouraged the arts and culture and made many further alterations, but the palace was fading as the centre of Catholic life. By the time antipope Benedict XIII took power in 1394, the church was deeply divided, and he was eventually forced to concede in 1403. The Avignon dynasty came to an end, and the papacy transferred back to Rome. The palace fell into disuse but remained largely intact, and today is a very impressive place to visit.Read more