Papel Palace, Avignon

The Palais des Papes, Avignon: The Largest Gothic Palace in Europe Was Built Under Duress

In 1303, agents of the French King Philip IV arrested Pope Boniface VIII at his summer palace in Anagni and beat him. The Pope died a month later. His successor lived only eight months. When the conclave reconvened, Philip pressured it into electing a French archbishop who had never been to Rome and who, once made pope as Clement V, showed no particular interest in going. By 1309 the entire papal court had relocated to Avignon, in Provence, where it would remain for the next 67 years under seven successive French popes. Critics called it the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, the analogy drawn from the Hebrew exile, and the name stuck.

The Palais des Papes is what the papacy built once it accepted it was staying. Construction began in 1335 under Benedict XII and continued through the reigns of two more popes, finishing in 1364. The result is the largest Gothic palace in Europe: 15,000 square metres of stone, with walls more than 10 metres thick in some sections. It was designed to function simultaneously as a residence, an administrative centre, and a military fortress. If you wanted a marriage annulled, a legal dispute settled, or a church office granted anywhere in Christendom during the 14th century, you addressed your petition here. The Avignon papacy became the most sophisticated legal and financial machine in medieval Europe, partly out of necessity: cut off from their Italian revenues, the popes innovated extensively in the sale of ecclesiastical offices and the collection of fees across the continent.

The palace does not let you forget any of this once you are inside.

Visiting in 2026

From 1 May 2026, the palace has opened rooms previously closed to the public and introduced new interactive installations alongside the permanent collections. This is a significant upgrade: some of the areas now open include parts of the original medieval apartments not previously accessible on standard tours.

Adult admission costs €12, with reduced rates around €10 for students and seniors. Under-18s enter free. The palace is open daily, with hours varying seasonally: broadly 10am to 5pm in winter and 10am to 7pm in summer, with last entry an hour before closing. The official website (palais-des-papes.com) publishes exact hours and any closures. There is an audio guide included with standard admission.

The Avignon City Pass covers the palace plus the Pont d’Avignon and several museums; if you plan to spend two or more days in the city it represents reasonable value.

Inside the Palace

The two most important interiors for anyone with more than a passing interest are the Papal Apartments and the room containing the frescoes attributed to Matteo Giovannetti, the Italian painter who served as official court artist to the popes. Giovannetti’s hunting and fishing scenes in the Chambre du Cerf (the stag room) are unusually secular for a papal interior: the pope’s private study decorated with men fishing and birds being taken with nets. The frescoes have survived in better condition than most comparable 14th-century work.

The Great Courtyard (Cour d’Honneur) is the main open space of the palace and every July becomes the central stage for the Festival d’Avignon’s flagship productions. It is worth looking at the space and understanding the scale before seeing anything performed in it.

The treasury rooms contain exhibits explaining the financial operations of the Avignon papacy, which tends to be more interesting than it sounds: the papacy of this period was essentially a sophisticated bank as much as a religious institution.

The Festival d’Avignon

The 80th edition of the festival runs 4 to 25 July 2026. The festival proper (the IN) is publicly funded, internationally programmed, and uses the Palais des Papes as its centrepiece venue. In 2026 it encompasses around 47 productions across approximately 300 performances from artists drawn from 12 countries. The OFF festival runs concurrent dates: a much larger and more chaotic programme of theatre, stand-up, dance, and experimental work using venues across the city, from official theatres to converted garages.

If you are visiting during the festival: book accommodation at least six months ahead. Prices inside the city walls double or more in July. Villeneuve-les-Avignon, directly across the Rhone, offers quieter and cheaper alternatives with a 15-minute bus connection. Daytime temperatures regularly reach the mid-30s Celsius; the open-air courtyard performances at the Palais are most comfortable in the evening.

Beyond the Palace

The Pont d’Avignon (Pont Saint-Benezet) is the partially collapsed medieval bridge familiar from the French nursery rhyme. Only four of the original 22 arches survive, extending into the Rhone and stopping abruptly. The combined ticket with the palace costs around €16 for adults and the views from the bridge back toward the city are the best photographs you will take in Avignon.

The Musee du Petit Palais, a former cardinal’s palace on the square in front of the Palais des Papes, holds a collection of medieval and Renaissance paintings including works by Botticelli that most visitors walk past on the way to something more famous. Admission is around €6.

Les Halles covered market on Place Pie opens Tuesday through Sunday mornings and is the practical food solution for anyone in the city: Provencal produce, cheese, charcuterie, and prepared dishes at prices well below restaurant level.

Getting There

Avignon has two train stations. Avignon TGV, 4km from the centre, receives direct high-speed services from Paris (around 2 hours 40 minutes), Lyon, Marseille, and seasonal Eurostar connections from London. Avignon Centre, inside the city walls, handles regional TER trains from Marseille, Nimes, and Orange. A shuttle bus connects the two stations. From Paris by TGV, the one-way fare booked in advance is typically €30 to €60 depending on timing.

Where to Eat

La Mirande, immediately behind the palace on Place de l’Amirande, is Avignon’s most celebrated fine-dining restaurant, set within a former cardinal’s residence. Dinner is expensive (expect €80 to €120 per person without wine) but the cooking and setting justify it as an occasional choice.

For lunch, Le Fournil near the market serves Provencal cooking at mid-range prices with no pretension. The wine list features regional appellations from the Rhone Valley at fair markups.

For something faster, the area around Rue des Teinturiers, the canal street southeast of the palace, has a cluster of independent cafes and smaller restaurants that cater more to locals than tourists.

Where to Stay

Hotel de l’Horloge on Place de l’Horloge, central to everything, has well-maintained rooms from around €120 per night and is a reliable mid-range option. The hotel sits on the main square between the palace and the city hall.

For the festival period, the additional option of staying in villages in the Luberon (30 to 45 minutes by car) gives access to the Avignon programme while offering considerably more comfortable bases. Gordes, Bonnieux, and Lourmarin are all within range for day trips to the city.

Start with the palace at opening time (10am) before the group tours arrive. By 11:30am the main halls are crowded.