Model of the Old Palace at the Palais des Papes
The existence of the Palais des Papes can be owed to the Avignon papacy. At the time, France and Italy were having a tug of war over who the next pope should be since both have an almost equal number of cardinals. Eventually Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, was elected pope much to the Italians’ dismay. Because of fears of the situation in Rome, Pope Clement V made the decision to move the official papal residence to Avignon. There are rumors of his closeness to the French crown though this was never confirmed. Needless to say, the French king was very pleased with these developments and supported the French pope. As a result of the move from Rome to Avignon, seven popes ended up staying here in Avignon, all French.
Palais des Papes with the New Palace
In all of those years called the Avignon papacy, the residence of the pope was the bishop’s palace which was by the river. Over the years, the bishop’s palace was expanded to the size it is today. It is considered ont of the largest Gothic buildings in Europe, though it has fallen into disrepair after the Avignon papacy. It is actually composed of two buildings called the old palace and the new palace. These were built in different times. With the size of the palace, building the structure was an incredibly expensive undertaking reportedly costing much of the papacy’s income.
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