Avignon (population 95,000 — the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in Provence, southeastern France) is one of the most historically significant cities in medieval European history: the seat of the Papacy from 1309 to 1377 (the "Avignon Papacy" or "Babylonian Captivity of the Church" — the 68-year period when seven successive popes ruled Christendom from Avignon rather than Rome: the period began when the French-born Pope Clement V (1305–1314), influenced by the French King Philip IV, refused to move to Rome and established the papal court in Avignon (at the time, a papal territory (the Comtat Venaissin) within the Holy Roman Empire but adjacent to the French Kingdom): the Avignon popes built the most extraordinary Gothic palace in Europe (the Palais des Papes — the largest Gothic building in the world, larger than the Vatican Apostolic Palace), acquired the finest art collection in Europe (including works by Simone Martini — the Sienese painter who lived and worked in Avignon from 1340 until his death in 1344 — and by Matteo Giovannetti, the master of the painted rooms of the Papal Palace), and made Avignon the most powerful, most wealthy and most culturally sophisticated city in Europe during the 14th century). The surviving monuments of the Avignon Papacy — the Palais des Papes, the Pont d'Avignon (the Pont Saint-Bénézet — the medieval bridge of the famous nursery rhyme "Sur le Pont d'Avignon"), the Cathedral of Notre-Dame des Doms (the Romanesque cathedral above the Palais des Papes), and the circuit of the medieval city walls (the most complete surviving medieval urban wall in France) — are collectively listed as UNESCO World Heritage (1995). The Avignon Festival (Festival d'Avignon — the most important theater festival in the world, founded by Jean Vilar in 1947 and held every July in the Palais des Papes courtyard and throughout the city) has made Avignon the theater capital of the world during its three weeks each summer.
Palais des Papes (the "Palace of the Popes" — the most important Gothic building in Europe: the palace built between 1335 and 1364 by two successive popes (Benedict XII (the "Old Palace" — the austere, fortress-like first phase, 1335–1342) and Clement VI (the "New Palace" — the lavish, ornate second phase, 1342–1352): the total floor area of 15,000m² makes it the largest Gothic building in the world (larger than the Vatican Apostolic Palace in Rome)): the Grand Tinel (the banquet hall — 48m long, the largest room in the medieval palace: the room where the Conclave (the papal election) was held), the Pope's Bedroom (the room decorated with the most elaborate medieval secular fresco program in Europe — the birds, the squirrels and the oak trees of the painted hunting and garden scenes by Matteo Giovannetti and his workshop), the Great Chapel (the Clementine Chapel — the 52m-long Gothic chapel where the papal liturgies were celebrated, originally with an altarpiece by Simone Martini), and the Treasury (the underground treasury vaults where the papal gold and jewels were stored).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuidePont Saint-Bénézet (the "Pont d'Avignon" of the world-famous nursery rhyme "Sur le Pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse, l'on y danse..." ("On the bridge of Avignon, we dance, we dance"): the bridge built between 1177 and 1185 according to a legend that the shepherd Bénézet (the "Little Bénézet") received a divine vision instructing him to build a bridge across the Rhône at Avignon — the story of Bénézet moving a 30-tonne stone block single-handedly to begin the construction was accepted as a miracle and the Bishop of Avignon authorized the construction: the bridge originally had 22 arches spanning the full width of the Rhône (890m): the Rhône floods of 1603–1605 destroyed 18 of the 22 arches, leaving the current 4-arch fragment (238m) with the Chapel of Saint Nicholas (the two-story Romanesque chapel on the second pier, built for the boatmen, with the lower story (the Romanesque chapel) and the upper story (the Gothic chapel added in the 14th century) both surviving).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideRocher des Doms (the "Dome Rock" — the natural limestone cliff above the Palais des Papes and the Rhône: the clifftop garden (the most important panoramic viewpoint in Avignon: the view of the Pont d'Avignon, the Rhône, the Villeneuve-lès-Avignon across the river, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards to the north and the Alpilles (the small limestone range) and Mont Ventoux (the 1,912m isolated mountain — the "Giant of Provence" that Petrarch climbed in 1336 in what is considered the first recorded mountaineering excursion in history) in the distance)), and the Notre-Dame des Doms (the Romanesque cathedral of Avignon — the cathedral immediately adjacent to the Palais des Papes: the Romanesque nave (12th century) with the Gothic chapels added during the Avignon Papacy and the gilded Virgin (the 4.4m gilded statue on the lantern tower added in 1859 that is the most visible landmark of the Avignon skyline — the gold statue catches the afternoon light and is visible from 20km away).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideProvençal cuisine (the cuisine of Provence — the most celebrated regional cuisine in France outside of Burgundy: the daube de boeuf provençale (the Provençal beef stew: the beef (the Charolais or the local Camargue breed) braised for 4–6 hours with the "garniture aromatique" (onion, carrot, celery, thyme, bay leaf, orange peel — the orange peel is the specific Provençal addition that distinguishes the daube from the boeuf bourguignon), the Provençal red wine (the Côtes du Rhône, the Vacqueyras or the Gigondas), the black Nyons olives (the AOC table olive from the Drôme Provençale) and the herbes de Provence (the dried mixture of thyme, rosemary, savory, marjoram and lavender)), the tapenade (the black olive paste — the Provençal condiment par excellence: the pounded mixture of black olives, capers (the word "tapenade" derives from "tapenas" — the Provençal word for capers), anchovies, olive oil and lemon juice) and the Châteauneuf-du-Pape (the most important appellation of the Rhône Valley — the wines produced in the 3,200 hectares around the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (15km north of Avignon): the most complex Southern Rhône red wine, dominated by Grenache with Syrah, Mourvèdre and other varieties permitted).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideChâteauneuf-du-Pape (the wine village 15km north of Avignon — the most celebrated Southern Rhône appellation: the name means "New Castle of the Pope" — the village grew around the summer residence (château) of the Avignon popes (the "New Castle" of Pope John XXII (1316–1334) who established the vineyard surrounding it): the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation (established 1936 as the first French AOC — the model for all subsequent French appellation legislation): 13 permitted grape varieties (the most of any AOC in France: Grenache (the dominant), Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Vaccarèse, Picpoul Noir, Terret Noir, Counoise, Muscardin, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Clairette and Bourboulenc), the famous galets (the large rounded river pebbles that cover the Châteauneuf vineyards and retain the Rhône valley heat, radiating warmth upward onto the grape clusters at night)), and the Château Rayas estate (the most expensive and most sought-after Châteauneuf-du-Pape — the pure Grenache from the coolest, sandiest plots of the appellation: the most unusual (and most imitated) style in the appellation).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideLes Baux-de-Provence (the hill village in the Alpilles — the most dramatic of all the "villages perchés" (perched villages) of Provence: the ruined 13th-century château on the summit of the 245m limestone outcrop (the ruins of what was the most powerful castle in Provence — the domain of the Lords of Baux who traced their lineage to Balthazar (one of the Three Kings) and used a sixteen-pointed star as their coat of arms): the Carrières de Lumières (the "Quarries of Light" — the abandoned limestone quarry caves (the quarry that cut the stone for medieval Provence) converted to the most spectacular immersive art experience in France: the projected images covering the 14m-high cave walls (the entire interior of the quarry is projected with the works of a single artist or movement — the Cézanne, the Van Gogh, the Picasso programs are the most celebrated — with classical or contemporary music: the most visited cultural site in Provence after the Pont du Gard).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideGordes (the most photographed village in Provence — the cluster of stone houses cascading down the south face of a limestone plateau above the Luberon valley: the village visible from 20km across the plain, the pale-gold stone turning deep orange at sunset: the Renaissance château at the summit (the 12th-century fortress rebuilt in Renaissance style in 1525) and the view from the château terrace over the Luberon plain and the Montagne du Luberon). The Sénanque Abbey (the 12th-century Cistercian monastery 3km north of Gordes in the Senancole valley — the lavender fields that surround the Romanesque Cistercian abbey church in June–July: the most photographed image in Provence (the violet-blue rows of lavender with the grey stone abbey behind)).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSaint-Rémy-de-Provence sits between Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Les Baux on the natural Provence driving circuit. Van Gogh spent 12 months in the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum here (1889–1890) and produced 150 paintings including Starry Night — the asylum garden is open for visits. The Wednesday market fills the plane-tree boulevard with Provençal olives, lavender honey and the local chèvre. Lunch at Bistrot Découverte for the €18 set menu with herbed goat cheese and ratatouille.
Les Halles d'Avignon (the covered market hall in the Place Pie — the most important food market in Avignon and one of the finest in Provence: the 40 stands of the market (the producers selling directly from their farms): the chèvre (fresh Provençal goat cheese — the Banon (wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with raffia), the Picodon (the small round AOC goat cheese from the Drôme and Ardèche, aged from 2 weeks to 2 months until it hardens to a firm, pungent rind), the fresh Luberon fromage frais (the very young goat cheese eaten within 24 hours of making: the softest and most delicate), the Cavaillon melon (the most celebrated melon in France — the small round Charentais-type melon from the Cavaillon plain north of Avignon: the most fragrant melon in French gastronomy: Alexandre Dumas Sr. loved Cavaillon melons so much that he donated the complete works of his books to the Cavaillon library in exchange for a life annuity of 12 melons per year), and the Vaucluse truffles (the black Périgord truffle from the Vaucluse hillsides — Provence is the second-most important truffle region in France after the Périgord)).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideVilleneuve-lès-Avignon (the town immediately across the Rhône from Avignon, on the French side (Avignon was a papal territory, not part of the Kingdom of France — the Rhône was the border): the Tour Philippe le Bel (the tower built by the French King Philip IV (Philippe le Bel — "the Fair") in 1307 on the French bank to watch (and threaten) the papal territory across the river: the same Philip IV who pressured Pope Clement V to move the papacy to Avignon in 1309 — the tower was the instrument of that pressure): the Chartreuse du Val de Bénédiction (the Charterhouse monastery founded in 1356 by the Avignon Pope Innocent VI — the largest Charterhouse (Carthusian monastery) in France, with the finest collection of medieval funerary monuments in Provence).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideFestival d'Avignon (the "IN" Festival — the most important theater festival in the world: founded in 1947 by Jean Vilar (the theater director who reinvented French popular theater by opening the Palais des Papes to the public for outdoor performances in the main courtyard): the festival program includes the most significant new stage productions from the major French and international theatrical companies performed in the Palais des Papes Cour d'Honneur (the main courtyard — 2,000 seats under the stars) and in dozens of venues throughout the city (theaters, churches, car parks, riverside locations). The "OFF" festival (the Fringe): 1,500+ productions in 100+ venues simultaneously throughout July — the second-largest arts festival after the Edinburgh Fringe. Outside July: the Cour d'Honneur is accessible as an architectural space, and the Palais des Papes evening light show is a substitute for the live theater experience.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuidePastis (the anise-flavored spirit of Provence — the most quintessentially Provençal aperitif: the amber 45% spirit (the Ricard or the Pastis 51 — the Marseille brands, the Janot from Provence) mixed 1:5 with water and ice (the water turns it milky white — the same "louche" effect as absinthe, from which pastis descends: absinthe was banned in France in 1915 and pastis (without the thujone of wormwood) was legalized as the replacement in 1932)). Soupe de poisson (the Provençal fish soup — the purée of rock fish (rascasse (scorpionfish), grondin (gurnard), saint-pierre (John Dory) and other small Mediterranean fish), strained smooth, served hot with the rouille (the saffron-garlic mayonnaise) spread on the grilled croûtons and the grated Gruyère floating on top — the assembly: rouille on the croûton, Gruyère on the rouille, float on the soup).
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