Palais des Papes, Avignon

I’ve written several posts in the past few months about places we returned to after several decades, and found that they had changed drastically. Which is to be expected, so I don’t know why I am so surprised by this; change is inevitable. Still, it always seems to catch me by surprise. Here are links to the places we’ve visited recently where there have been some big changes:

Monet’s Garden, Then and Now

Annecy, France

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, France

The famous Palais des Papes in Avignon is another place that has changed drastically since our first visit. First, a little history of this iconic, historical site.

Between 1309 – 1377, it was the seat of the Catholic popes, with nine popes leading the church from this beautiful city. The palace itself is massive with over 25 rooms including chapels, ceremonial rooms, apartments, treasuries and a dining hall, just to name a few. It is one of the largest, medieval Gothic buildings in the world, covering over 160,000 square feet (15,000 square meters). There are amazingly beautiful frescoes in the chapels created by Italian artists Simone Martini and Matteo Giovannetti; photography is not allowed, but click here to see some images of them. It became a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1995. Click here if you’re interested in learning more about its history.

The first time I visited le palais was in 1997, theTravesketcher was sitting in the adjoining square working on a sketch, so I wandered in on my own, looked around, lit a few candles and said some prayers. It was October, so there were only a few other souls around, and there were no church employees or security guards. I had the place mostly to myself. I didn’t wander far from the Grande Chapelle, so I don’t remember if other areas were open to the public. It was a tranquil, peaceful experience.

We have visited the palace several times since then, once about a decade ago, and again just earlier this week, and oh my, how it has changed! After paying a 15€ admission fee, we were ushered through a metal detector, and had our bags searched. As we wandered through the palace, crowded with visitors, we saw many security guards and employees keeping a close watch on the tourists and tour groups.

I did manage to capture a few images without throngs of tourists.

One advantage of the changes is that many of the room are now open to the public, and there are some interesting displays. I found this display of the construction information and materials quite interesting. Apparently, it was the largest building site in the 14th century and the quickest too, as the main part of the palace was completed in just 20 years.

These frescoes are located in the Consistorium, the room where public audiences were held, and where the cardinals and pope would meet to discuss important topics.

Stone coffers, hidden under the floor, kept the church’s collections safe in the treasuries. Access to these rooms, were limited to the Pope, Chamberlain and Treasurer. When they were discovered in 1985, the riches included bags of silver and gold coins, silverware, fabrics, property deeds and other valuables in chests with multiple locks. Even though the treasury rooms were reinforced with iron locks, they were broken into twice, once in 1360 and again in 1374.

The Grande Chapelle, was filled with pews when I was there the first time, which have been removed to allow for modern art installations.

The spider was on display when we visited in 2013.

Le Jardin Benoît XII was not open on our previous visits and has undergone some renovations over the past years. It is now a stunning place to linger, and was the highlight of the palace for me.

In order to exit, we were ushered through a gift shop where sippy cups, t-shirts, toys, many types of trinkets, all with images of le palais, were for sale. Et, bien sur, there is a wine shop, the Pope’s Wine Cellar, where one can purchase Vin de Palais des Papes.

The commercialism makes me sad, but perhaps its for the best as preservation of these ancient structures is trés important for future generations to enjoy.

So all in all, it is still an amazing place to visit, which I highly recommend if you visit Avignon. If you do visit, be sure to arrive early, and try to visit in the off-season.

As always, please leave a comment, as I would love to hear from you.

Wishing you grand adventures,

Tricia