Cathédrale Notre-Dame-des-Doms d'Avignon

What makes it special

Look up from the square before you go in: the gilded Virgin on the bell tower is six metres tall, and it is the cathedral's best-known feature.

The church beneath it is Romanesque. Inside, the dome over the nave is the first thing to find, and murals and paintings line the walls.

In the second chapel on the right stands the 14th-century statue of Our Lady of All Power, which the cathedral treats as its own emblem.

The most famous work is the Gothic tomb of Pope John XXII, damaged in the Revolution and since restored to its chapel. That funeral chapel now holds the diocesan treasury, with reliquaries and vestments on show. At the back of the church stands the white marble throne the Avignon popes sat on.

Visiting

Short and self-guided, the visit takes about forty minutes once you are through the door. Take in the dome, the second chapel on the right, the John XXII chapel and the throne at the back in whatever order suits you.

Afterwards, the Rocher des Doms garden sits on the rock above, an English-style park 30 m above the Rhône. From the top the view runs over the old town and its monuments to the Rhône plain and Mont Ventoux. Works on the rock limit how much of it is open, so check which way up is open before you climb.

Tips

If you want to give something, a card reader for donations sits at the cathedral. Plan the visit straight after the palace, since you only climb the slope once.

Dogs are not allowed in the Rocher des Doms garden, so plan the walk without one if you mean to carry on above.