After yesterday's introduction to Avignon (pop 91,760 in 2022), today we get inside the town. Our first stop is the monumental Palais des Papes (14th century), like a separate town by itself. The Palais stands on a promontory next to the Rocher des Doms, though le jardin is closed for renovations so the site is inaccessible. It contains a pair of joined courtyard buildings, running north to south down the slope, with a kind of crooked spine along the eastern side.
The western facades form the eastern edge of the Place du Palais. It is a series of large towers connected by tall, arcaded blocks with a variety of proportions and shapes. A pair of spires frame the entrance, which is raised above the level of the Place.
For most of the fourteenth century, the Catholic Popes have their 'seat', the Curia Romana, not in Rome but in Avignon; the town becomes the center of the Catholic Church. The scale of both the Palais and the Place expresses their significance.
We enter through the Cour d'Honneur, the larger courtyard, but it is filled with staging and tiered seating forming some kind of theater or event space. This structure forces us to slip underneath and makes our viewing the Palais difficult – just angled, upward glimpses by the edges of the seats.
We can at least see the so-called Fenêtre de l'Indulgence (restored, 20th century), the beautiful Gothic loggia over the portal to the Cour.
From the Cour d'Honneur, a short, canted corridor connects to the smaller courtyard and features several grotesques that seem to honor the masons and architects who worked on the Palais (is that Gustave Eiffel holding his tower?).
The Cour de Cloître (the Cloître Benoit XII) offers open views through the arches to the west-facing towers.
We now enter the tour proper, and we are armed with an iPad-like tablet, the 'HistoPad'. The idea is to find a 'symbol' (not quite a QR code) that is on a stanchion in a central location in each room. The HistoPad then sends us back in time, and we can view the space as it existed in virtual reality.
From the Cloître, we turn right and enter Le Consistoire (consistory), a long room with several artifacts, including several frescos. There are two versions of the same artifact (14th century): a pediment with the Salvator Mundi and a tympanum with a La Vierge à l'Enfant scene; we wonder why the HistoPad is not employed. Both the sinopia and the final frescos are by Simone Martini.
The HistoPad does show the room filled with formals seat and the Catholic Cardinals. On the table are 'clickable' artifacts. The illustrations are informative, but the experience is a bit fussy.
The east side of Le Consistoire joins the Tour de Saint-Jean, and contains La Chapelle Saint-Jean, including its fresco cycle (Matteo Giovanetti, 14th century) for the two Saints-Jean: the Evangelist and the Baptist (photos are not permitted in the Chapelle; image from Wikimedia). The frescoes are faded, and the lighting poor, so the images are difficult to read – again, no help from the HistoPad.
The Grand Tinel (reception hall) is above Le Consistoire; the La Chapelle Saint-Martial is above La Chapelle Saint-Jean.
Other artifacts include old doors, decorative timber carvings, gargoyles, as well as a skull with an embedded projectile found on the site.
The next room is the Salle de Jésus, also filled with rather random objects. But this then leads to the tiny Le Vestiaire, where the Cardinals kept their vestments (perhaps like a Sacristy). There are a few wardrobes here, but the frescos are all burned away, perhaps damaged by fire.
However, the HistoPad works wonders in Le Chamber Antique du Camérier (papal chamberlain), where the deep colors and rich decorations come back to life.
Le Trésor Haut and the Le Trésor Bas (upper and lower treasury) are connected by a stair, which then leads east into a passage and out to the gardens.
Les Jardins du Palais des Papes are on two primary terraces, an upper garden with rigid hedgerows, and a less formal flower garden below. The cistern and well top are on the upper level to the south. The lower level to the east is the Verger d'Urbain V (orchard of Urban V) and includes several shaded arbors.
From the garden walls, we can study the stone construction, and the rocky outcrop that forms parts of the foundation.
The Porte de Chapelle de la Grande Aumônerie remains, infilled and fronted by plantings, at the north end of the upper level. In the corner is a spiral stair that connects to the La Cuisine Basse but takes us up to a landing where there are marvelous views over the Jardins.
At noontime, we make our way to the Place de l'Horloge. Information from the owner of last night's restaurant tells us that there are automatons (jacquemart – we had seen the pediment clock last night and assumed that was all there was). La Tour de l'Horloge is set back from the facade of the old Hôtel de Ville (15th century), now the Mairie d'Avignon (city hall, 19th century); we must shuffle to the far eastern side of the Place to see the figures inside La Tour.
We catch a short video clip of the action, which is minimal to say the least. The figures do not move, just the striker. It's adorable, but also a letdown.
Our stroll to lunch provides a chance to check out other churches and sites away from Rue de La République. The Basilique Saint-Pierre (14th-16th centuries) anchors the neighborhood just south of the Palais. It is a little stunner from the late Gothic. Saint-Pierre is well-known as the first pope, and the receiver from Christ, of the keys of heaven – so he's right there in the center of the front facade.
La Vierge à l'Enfant greets worshippers in the center stile of the main portal, but another Vierge à l'Enfant floats above the rooftops to our left. We don't realize Her purpose there until we squeeze down the narrow side street; She is leading people down the alley to the front of the church.
We also find an elaborate, riveted copper door, and can only marvel at the work. All the church doors are locked at midday.
We somehow find ourselves back at Collégiale Saint-Didier (14th century) and the Place de l'Horloge. With the morning clouds now clear, we take a few more pictures of La Tour de l'Horloge. Unfortunately, the light is shining on the other side.
Stepping into the alley extending from the Place, the Rue de Mons, we can finally see the entire composition of La Tour: the spire, the finials, the gargoyles, the jacquemart, and the clock.
In the early afternoon, we return to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-des-Doms (12th-15th centuries), thinking that La Vierge Marie and the sculptures on the terrace will now be in the sunlight. The stacked arrangement of the elements is an echo of Marseille's Notre-Dame de la Garde, with the domed Cathédrale, La Vierge Marie atop Le Clocher (bell tower, 19th century) in gold, and the Crucifixion at the front of the terrace in white.
These vertical elements loom dramatically over the Place du Palais, and we imagine the ancient Popes using the terrace like the balcony of Saint Peter's.
Though the Cathédrale is closed (on Mondays) we connect the pediment and tympanum at the door to the frescos we saw in Le Consistoire of the Palais.
We head west, in search of new sites. We find the Collégiale Saint-Agricol (14th-18th centuries) with its lovely Gothic portal. L'Annonciation fills the tympanum, with the L'Ange Gabriel on the left and Marie on the right, the Salvator Mundi above, and Le Saint-Espirit moving toward Marie. Deep buttresses at the corners splay outward in an architectural gesture of welcome.
From a thin stone path, we spy the west face of La Tour de l'Horloge. looking glorious in the bright afternoon light.
In the block to the west, we see the Chapelle de l'Oratoire (18th century) on the Rue Joseph Vernet, a comfortable shopping street that parallels Les Remparts d'Avignon (14th century). Following the side of the Chapelle we exit the old defensive walls and La Poterne de l'Oratoire.
The courtyard of the Musée Calvet (18th century) is further south along the Rue Joseph Vernet and features a fantastic stone archway and iron gate.
Crossing La République, looping south, and now walking east, we merge onto the Rue des Teinturiers, a characterful, old industrial road, now full of galleries, theaters, and coffee shops - a bohemian atmosphere (Avignon Université is nearby, too).
A canal holds the waters of La Sorgue, on their way to join Le Rhône. The Roue à Aubes is one of four surviving waterwheels that powered the textile mills. This remnant Roue, the unusually large carved curbstones, and the poems painted on the dead tree trunks all contribute to the personality of this shady street, of a place worn down, then brought back with youthful energy.
Toward the town center, the Rue des Teinturiers ends with the entrance to La Chapelle des Pénitents Gris (19th century) and the Clocher de l'Église des Cordeliers (13th-14th centuries), both looking romantically ruined.
The town's market building, Les Halles (19th-20th centuries), is near the very center of Avignon. Its 'Mur Végétal' (living wall) faces the Place Pie, anchored by the Tour Saint-Jean (13th century).
From the center, we continue northeast on the Rue Carreterie and join young people and local families on their afternoon walks. The streetscape opens into a series of triangular intersections, with cafes, pastry shops, and bakeries.
A portrait at the corner of the Rue Ledru Rollin interrupts our promenade; it is 'Pierrot d'Apre J.A. Watteau' (Andrea Ravo Mattoni, 2021)
At the Place des Carmes, we step back for a view of the Clocher du Couvent des Augustins (13th-14th centuries), an open, octagonal rusty-iron lantern with a single bell – a real landmark on this street.
One of these triangular intersections is the Place Belle Croix, near the Théâtre La Petite Caserne as the Rue Carreterie approaches the eastern Rempart. The spire of the Église Saint-Symphorien-les-Carmes (13th-16th centuries) beckons us west, and we turn here.
Children fill the churchyard of the Couvent des Carmes, laughing and playing games. Apparently, the families living around the Couvent use this gated space into a playground, as parent sit on the planter walls and the boys kick a soccer ball.
Eventually, we find ourselves in front of the Chapelle des Pénitents Noirs (17th-18th centuries), with its bursting relief sculpture depicting cherubs carrying the head of Saint Jean-Baptiste. The Chapelle is attached to a wall, recently refurbished. We notice the residents of the apartment complex behind the walls exiting and entering with groceries. Then we notice the posters announcing a new residential development in the old prison, La Prison Sainte-Anne (19th century).
The Palais des Papes is just on the other side of the Prison. For sure, Avignon hold the legacy of these fourteenth century Popes. The endless lines of églises, les chapelles des pénitents, the ruined silk factories along the Rue des Teinturiers are all reminders of past glories.
Now, as family activities fill the cloisters and new apartments fill the old prison, we can appreciate how the town's people are giving the ancient buildings and this gorgeous city new purpose and new life.
