The Palais des Papes in Avignon, France is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Avignon (/aviɲɔ̃/ in French) ( Provençal: Avinhon in classical norm or Avignoun in Mistralian norm is a commune This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. See also Gothic art Gothic architecture is a style of Architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It is one of many places called the Palace of the Popes.
Avignon became the residence of the Popes in 1309, when the Gascon Bertrand de Goth, as Pope Clement V, unwilling to face the violent chaos of Rome after his election (1305), moved the Papal Curia to Avignon, a period known as the Avignon Papacy. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and Pope Clement V' (About 1264 &ndash April 20, 1314) born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled de Gouth and de Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope In the History of the Roman Catholic Church, the Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1377 during which seven Popes all French, resided in Avignon Clement lived as a guest in the Dominican monastery at Avignon, and his successor Pope John XXII set up a magnificent establishment there, but the reconstruction of the old bishops' palace was begun in earnest by Pope Benedict XII (1334-42) and continued by his successors to 1364. Pope John (numbering Pope John XXII (1249 &ndash December 4, 1334) born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse) was Pope from 1316 to 1334 Pope Benedict XII (died April 25, 1342) born Jacques Fournier, was Pope from 1334 to 1342 The site, on a natural rocky outcrop at the northern edge of Avignon, overlooking the river Rhône, was that of the old episcopal palace of the bishops of Avignon. The Rhone, or the Rhône is one of the major Rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France. The Palais was built in two principal phases with two distinct segments, known as the Palais Vieux (Old Palace) and Palais Neuf (New Palace). By the time of its completion, it occupied an area of 11,000 m² (2. 6 acres). The building was enormously expensive, consuming much of the papacy's income during its construction.
The Palais Vieux was constructed by the architect Pierre Poisson of Mirepoix at the instruction of Pope Benedict XII. Pope Benedict XII (died April 25, 1342) born Jacques Fournier, was Pope from 1334 to 1342 The austere Benedict had the old/new episcopal palace razed and replaced with a much larger building centreed on a cloister, heavily fortified against attackers. Its four wings are flanked with high towers.
Under Popes Clement VI, Innocent VI and Urban V, the building was expanded to form what is now known as the Palais Neuf. Pope Clement VI (1291 &ndash December 6, 1352) born Pierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was Pope from May 1342 until his Pope Innocent VI (1282 or 1295 &ndash September 12, 1362) born Étienne Aubert, Pope at Avignon from 1352 to 1362 the successor Blessed Jean de Louvres was commissioned by Clement VI to build a new tower and adjoining buildings, including a 52 m long Grand Chapel to serve as the location for papal acts of worship. Two more towers were built under Innocent VI. Urban V completed the main courtyard (known as the Court d'Honneur) with further buildings enclosing it. The interior of the building was sumptuously decorated with frescos, tapestries, paintings, sculptures and wooden ceilings.
The popes departed Avignon in 1377, returning to Rome, but this prompted the Papal Schism during which time the antipopes Clement VII and Benedict XIII made Avignon their home until 1408. The Great Schism of Western Christianity or Papal Schism (also known as the Western Schism) was a split within the Roman Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417 An antipope ( Latin: antipapa) is a person who makes a widely accepted claim to be the lawful Pope, in opposition to the pope recognised by the Roman The latter was imprisoned in the Palais for ten years after being besieged within in 1398. The building remained in the hands of antipapal forces for some years – it was besieged from 1410 to 1411 – but was returned to the authority of papal legates in 1433.
Although the Palais remained under papal control (along with the surrounding city and Comtat Venaissin) for over 350 years afterwards, it gradually deteriorated despite a restoration in 1516. The Comtat Venaissin, often called the Comtat for short (lo Comtat Venaicin la Comtat is the former name of the region around the city of Avignon in what is now When the French Revolution broke out in 1789 it was already in a bad state when it was seized and sacked by revolutionary forces. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1791 it became the scene of a massacre of counter-revolutionaries, whose bodies were thrown into the Tour des Latrines in the Palais Vieux. Year 1791 ( MDCCXCI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
The Palais was subsequently taken over by the Napoleonic French state for use as a military barracks and prison. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Although it was further damaged by the military occupation, especially under the anti-clerical Third Republic, when the remaining interior woodwork was cleared away for use of the structure as a stables – the frescos were covered over and largely destroyed – ironically this ensured the shell of the building's physical survival. The French Third Republic (in French, La Troisième République, sometimes written as La IIIe It was only vacated in 1906, when it became a national museum. Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting It has been under virtually constant restoration ever since.
The majority of the Palais is now open to the public; it also houses a large convention centre and the archives of the département of Vaucluse. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division The Vaucluse ( Provençal Occitan: Vauclusa in classical norm or Vau-Cluso in Mistralian norm is a department in the southeast of
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