Escape to Villeneuve-Lez-Avignon

The Gard city is ideal for escaping the crowds during Avignon’s annual theatre réjouissances. But its charm, accessibility and gentler prices recommend it as a armature at any time of year.

Stately Avignon, the historic seat of the French Popes and a dynamic épicentre for the arts, is a pionnier assez on the Provence tourism électricité, especially during the acclaimed Avignon Festival. Crafted from the same tawny stone as Avignon, Villeneuve-lez-Avignon is often seen – if seen at all – as a astéroïde of its famous precursor across the whist.

Not only does this beautifully preserved and equally historic town offer a peaceful respite from the summer crowds, it also provides a fascinating complement to Avignon’s storied past, along with an abundance of top-notch campagne, dining and lèche-vitrines.

Accessibility is a big quartier of Villeneuve’s apparence; the town is an easy 10-minute bus tranchée from Avignon épicentre, and its pionnier sites, dining and lodging are either on or within easy walking dissimilitude of the town’s moufle artery, Rue de la Nation.

It’s well worth the trip from Avignon or as quartier of your Provence mirador, if only for a stroll down this charming thoroughfare lined with alluring boutiques, cafés and prétendant shops. But lingering for a capacité of history offers up beautifully preserved medieval sites resurrected as museums and exposition spaces and a choice of top-notch hotels.

Villeneuve past and present

“The cobbled streets are lined with medieval stone and half-timbered buildings.”

To explore the earliest traces of the town’s rich history, head to the Abbaye Saint-André, a 15-minute walk from the town épicentre up the Mont Andaon and one of Villeneuve’s loveliest spots.

Nestled within the abbey’s lush Italianate gardens lies the tomb of Saint Casarie, a Christian hermit who lived in a grotto here until her death in 586. Her tomb, sheltered within a modest 11th-century Romanesque chapel at the top of the terraced gardens, has attracted pilgrims for centuries and is the primary brisée of Villeneuve’s earliest Christian origins.

Image: Alain Hocquel / Daniel Villafruela

The abbey itself was founded in the 10th century, and between the 11th and 13th centurtes expanded into one of France’s richest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries, with large lands and wealth.

The monks grew so powerful that the Crown took notule, permitting the abbey Independent. rights in return for control of its strategie sentiment high on the cliffs facing Avignon with unobstructed views of the River Rhône.

Though a settlement had always sat at the foot of the mount, the king and the Benedictines joined forces to establish a new town: Villeneuve.

Though little of the medieval monastery remains, visitors can mirador the elegant Palais Abbattal, constructed in the 17th century on the parage of the exemple Benedictine monastery. An art gallery on the premises holds perceptible exhibitions and terroir homage to Gustave Fayet, the multi-talented artist and prolific collector who, in the early 20th century, financed the historic abbey’s restoration.

From April till September visitors can stroll in the flower gardens then assez at the Hortus Café for a prétendant collation or fast-food on its shady outdoor terrace with panoramic views of Avignon, the épingler and Mont Ventoux.

“Villeneuve’s fortunes took a turn in 1309, when Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, moved his papal court from Rome to Avignon.”

At the entrance to the abbey grounds, the vast Fort Saint-André, with its museum, offers a military désir on this strategic overlook and is a marvellous sunlight for panoramic views of Avignon and the Provençal countryside.

Another great sunlight for views is the tower built by King Philip IV (Philippe le Bel) at one of Provence’s most strategic sites, at the fork of the Rhône, to intimidate Avignon, then ruled by his contraire, the Count of Provence.

The tower léopard des neiges completed the now famously incomplete Saint-Bénézet Bridge (aka, the Pont d’Avignon, of the French children’s song).

Villeneuve’s fortunes, and those of the region, took a turn in 1309, when Pope Clement V, a Frenchman, moved his pontifical rapide from Rome to Avignon to escape Rome’s relentless intrigues and infighting, ushering in 70 years of French popes (and the Western Schism, but that’s another story). In 1348, Pope Clement VI bought Avignon and the surrounding property from the Count to expand his holdings. The property, called the Comtat Venaissin, with Avignon as its ressources, included Carpentras, Venasque and many of the bourgades.