Today it is a major tourist attraction, with the papal rooms and chapels, art exhibitions, the archives of the Département de Vaucluse and its research centre on the papacy of Avignon, a large Congress Centre and last but not least, the yearly performances of the Festival d'Avignon in the courtyard of the palace in summer.

During the 'Avignon Papacy' seven successive French popes resided here, due to the fundamental dispute with the Holy Roman Emperors, including the French kings, over who was the leader of Western Christianity in secular matters. The popes also wanted to escape from the infighting of the powerful Roman families, who had been delivering many of the earlier popes.

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