Tourist Attractions in Avignon

Sightseeing Overview

In Avignon, everything worth seeing is within easy walking distance and orientation is not difficult. The city is enclosed in fortified medieval walls, with the River Rhone to the north and west of the town. The Palais des Papes and Pont St Benezet are in the north, connected by the place du Palais, which itself runs into Avignon’s central square (place de l’Horloge) just a little south.

This square is home to the impressive Hotel de Ville and the Opera House, decorated with statues of former visitors Corneille and Moliere. From here, the main thoroughfare, the rue de la Republique, turns into the cours Jean Jaures as it approaches the southern city walls and the railway station. To the east are several shopping streets and a mass of interesting restaurants and cafes.

The best way for visitors to explore Avignon is to wander through its maze of medieval streets. Many take their names from inns (such as rue du Chapeau Rouge) or from trades - such as rue des Fourbisseurs (’weapon sharpeners’), rue du Vieux Sextier (’Old Sexton’) and rue des Teinturiers, named after the dying process inherent in calico printing. For traveling off the beaten path, the rue Joseph-Vernet is a good bet, lined with Avignon’s most stylish shops, old hotels and quaint courtyards and gardens. More imposing but still frequented, mainly by the locals, is the cathedral, Notre-Dame des Doms, a brief walk past the Palais des Papes. The cathedral is surrounded by Rocher des Doms, a charming public park offering magnificent views of the city and the Rhone.

Avignon also has a cluster of interesting little museums that are clearly detailed on a free map available at the Avignon Tourist Office. Most notable is the Musee Angladon, 5 rue Laboreur (tel: (04) 9082 2903), which displays the private collection of aesthete Jacques Doucet, including Modigliani’s The Pink Blouse and Van Gogh’s The Railroad Cars.

There is also an information office at Espace St Benezet, open daily 1000-1900 (Apr-Oct).

Passes

The Avignon Passion card is available free at participating museums, on tourist transport and at Avignon and Villeneuve-les-Avignon tourist offices. The pass offers cut-price admission (reductions of 20-50%) after the first full-price attraction has been visited and includes all the various sightseeing tours listed in the Tours of the City section. Participating museums and attractions include Musee Clavet, Musee Vouland, Musee du Petit Palais, Palais des Papes and Pont St Benezet. The pass is valid for two weeks of unlimited visits for the holder and their family.

Key Attractions:

Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes)

This palace-fortress looms above Avignon. The immense courtyard in front, lined with cafes and restaurants, is also the impressive setting for the Avignon Festival, while the battlements offer wonderful views. The palace was built over 30 years, during the reign of three popes - Benedict XII, Clement VI and Innocent VI. The palace is based on the fusion of two buildings - the austere ‘Old Palace’ (1334-42), constructed on the orders of Benedict XII, and the extravagant Gothic ‘New Palace’ (1342-52), of Clement VI. It is a frowning mass of elaborate architecture, covering some 15,000 sq meters (166,660 sq feet) and reducing Avignon’s other buildings to toy-town proportions.
The exterior is chilling and unfriendly, with a crenellated façade and slit windows.

In contrast, the interiors are rich with the frescoes of Italian artist Matteo Giovannetti and Sienese artist Giovanni Luca, survivors of the fire that burned away many paintings and much finery in 1413. It is worth taking the audiocassette that is included in the admission price, to make sense of the maze of rooms within the palace. Among the most beautiful is the Pope’s Bedchamber. The walls are awhirl with frescoes of birds and grapevines, while the floor is covered with reproductions of the 14th-century tiles discovered beneath the nearby study of Benedict XII, in 1963.

Religious themes dominate the frescoes in the Chapelle St Martial and Pope’s Antechamber, while hunting scenes decorate the Stag Room. The Grand Tinel is where the pope’s banquets were held, with the pope seated on a raised platform. Gold plates and ivory cutlery were used to devour mountains of food - detailed inventories record the consumption of 118 cows, 1,023 sheep, 60 pigs, 1,195 geese, 7,428 chickens … a total of 95,000 dishes; and all at one sitting.

A guided tour (in French only) through the ‘Secret Palace’, with a chance to see Saint Michel Chapel and rooms that are normally closed to the public, with a convivial supper is available daily from 1700 from November to May. It is best for visitors to make a trip to the Palais des Papes in the afternoon, when it is cooler and there are fewer tourists.

Place du Palais

Admission: €9.50; €11 (combined Palais des Papes and Pont St Benezet ticket); €24.50 (Secret Palace tour, inclusive of meal); €31.50 (Secret Palace tour, Palais des Papes and Pont St Benezet combined ticket); concessions available.

Musee du Petit Palais (Little Palace Museum)

Located on the northern end of place du Palais, the Little Palace Museum was built for Cardinal Beranger Fredol between 1318 and 1320. Following extensive alterations, Pope Benoît made it his episcopal headquarters. Today, its 19 rooms house an impressive collection of frescoes, sculptures and Italian religious paintings from the 13th to 16th centuries, including works by Botticelli, Carpaccio and Giovanni di Paolo. The Angel of the Annunciation, by Sano Di Pietro (1406-1481), is one of the most beautiful paintings - the golden-haired angel has all the beauty of a pre-Raphaelite woman.

Pont St Benezet (St Benezet Bridge)

‘Sur le pont d’Avignon on y danse, on y danse …’ - the melody of the 19th-century song still draws visitors to the famed bridge that is formally known as the Pont St Benezet, after the shepherd whose heavenly vision and determination led to the bridge being built. Spanning the two channels of the River Rhone and the island in between (Ile de la Barthelasse), the bridge was built between 1177 and January 1185. Originally made of wood, it had to be continuously rebuilt, as it was the only crossing, providing a link between the Mediterranean and Lyon, an important trade hub in the Middle Ages. The river finally won the day, washing away the bridge in the mid-1600s. Today, only four of its original 22 arches and the tiny Chapelle St Nicholas remain. This delicate Romanesque chapel, dedicated to St Nicholas, patron saint of barge men, should not be missed. A small museum, situated beneath the ticket office, offers images of the bridge in former centuries.

Further Distractions:

Rocher des Doms

Ramps from the Palais des Papes lead up past the Cathedrale Notre-Dame des Doms to the Rocher des Doms, the site of Avignon’s earliest settlement. The rocky area was landscaped into a pleasant plateau with an artificial rock garden in the 18th century. Nineteenth-century additions include a lake and the statues of prominent Provençal figures, such as writer Felix Gras and artists Paul Sain and Paul Vaysan. Terraces were laid out in the 20th century, offering views onto the River Rhone, Pont St Benezet, Villeneuve-les-Avignon and the Alpilles.

Rocher des Doms, above place du Palais
Transport: Bus to place de l’Horloge.
Opening hours: Daily, sunrise to sunset.
Admission: Free.

Musee Louis Vouland (Louis Vouland Museum)

Successful businessman and art collector Louis Vouland (1883-1973) bequeathed his 19th-century mansion to the state. His home was opened as a museum in 1982, offering a quirky collection of 17th and 18th-century decorative arts. Highlights include faience (earthenware) from Vincennes and Sevres, and tapestries woven in Flanders, Aubusson and Gobelins. However, a dainty travel tea set in Sevres faience, which belonged to the Comtesse du Barry, mistress of Louis XV, steals the show.

Musee d’Art Contemporain (Contemporary Art Museum)

The Collection Lambert en Avignon, housed in the Musee d’Art Contemporain, is a unique ensemble of more than 350 contemporary artworks, which have been loaned by Yvon Lambert to the city of Avignon for 20 years. The collection is a unique testimony of the great art movements of our time: minimal art, conceptual art, land art from the 1960s to 1970s; painting from the 1980s; photography and video from the 1990s. The collection contains a most coherent ensemble of works by leading artists, including Cy Twombly, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Niele Toroni, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anselm Kiefer, Christian Boltansky, Nan Goldin or Douglas Gordon. Two to three temporary exhibitions are presented each year in conjunction with displays of artworks from the Collection Lambert.

Musee Calvet (Calvet Museum)

Housed in a splendid 18th-century mansion, the Musee Calvet displays a varied collection of paintings and sculptures from the 15th to the 20th century, ranging from the archaeological to Beaux Arts, from decorative to ethnic art.