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Origin and history

The Episcopal Palace of Carpentras was built in 1640 under the impulse of Alexander Bichi, bishop appointed by Urban VIII. Designed by François de Royers de la Valfenière, its Italian style recalls the origin of the sponsor. This new palace replaced a medieval military building, marking an architectural break with the past.

During the French Revolution, the building housed meetings of the municipal council. In 1801 he became a courthouse, a function he still retains today. Ranked a historic monument in 1862, it bears witness to the political and religious importance of Carpentras, the former capital of Comtat Venaissin.

The Salle des Assises, an ancient room of the Comtat states, is decorated with a frieze attributed to Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610–1662), Italian artist protected by Cardinal Bichi. These frescoes, restored in 1984 after damage related to infiltrations, illustrate the decorative fascist of the seventeenth century. Their safeguard was already demanded a century earlier by local historian Barjavel, alerting them to their degradation.

The palace thus combines religious heritage, judicial power and artistic heritage. Its interior decorations, including Romanelli's paintings, reflect Italian influence in the Provence of the Grand Century, while its imposing facade dominates Charles de Gaulle Square in Carpentras.

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