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Origin and history

The palace of Cardinal Giffon, located in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon in the Gard, was originally built around 1340 for Cardinal Bertrand du Pouget, whose coat of arms still adorn the old entrance. The latter withdrew after his failure in Italy to restore papal authority. The building, in medieval style, is distinguished by a high tower framed with two wings, unique arrangement in the area. Originally, it housed on the first floor a Grand Tenel (reception room) illuminated by three later redesigned windows, as well as a chapel occupying two levels of the tower, identifiable by a trilobed third-point window.

The palace changed hands over the decades: occupied after 1352 by Andouin Aubert, nephew of Pope Innocent VI, it was then taken over by Cardinal Leonardo Rossi of Giffone, Franciscan general, around 1380 during the Great Schism. The latter made changes, as attested by the tower preserved today. The building, partially unfinished, was originally to form a quadrilateral. Its entrance, surmounted by Pouget's weapons, led to vast spaces, including a 26-metre room communicating with the chapel. The kitchens and the bakery, identifiable by round chimneys, were in the east wing, today redesigned.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1925, the palace retains only the tower and adjacent wings. The Feast Hall, on the first floor of the left wing, extended to the tower, while the top of the tower housed a guard corps accessible by a 17th century staircase. Architectural clues, such as traces of a lost wooden gallery, suggest a complex spatial organization. After Pouget's death in 1352, the palace was bequeathed to the Chartreuse de Villeneuve by Andouin Aubert, then rented to Rossi de Giffone. Over the centuries, parts were alienated: the east wing became even the city hall in 1592 before becoming a home again in 1770.

The tower, with a top in a lauze-covered pavilion, has a structure with three parallel farms. In the basement, a cellar dug in the rock was connected to the floors by a vertical well, probably used as a lift. The facades, remodeled, suggest only a few Gothic elements, such as sledging windows or trilobed emplacement windows. The palace may be represented in the Coronation of the Virgin of Enguerrand Quarton (1453), a painting commissioned for the Chartreuse where Innocent VI and his nephews rest.

Today, the palace is limited to a building body on the street bank and a wing in return, but its history reflects the church's struggles of influence in the 14th century. The cardinals living in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, near Avignon (papal seat), built liveries symbolizing their power. This monument, although partially altered, bears witness to medieval civil architecture and the political networks of the Pontifical Court, between France and Italy.

Historical sources, such as the works of Françoise Robin or Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos, underline his role in the Gothic heritage of Languedoc. The palace, listed in the inventory of Historic Monuments, remains a key vestige of this period, despite the transformations experienced over the centuries.

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