Uncover Avignon’s hidden history on a captivating walking tour! Explore former Jewish quarters and hear how the “Pope’s Jews” persevered for centuries under strict papal rule.
Behind Avignon’s famous papal palaces and medieval streets lies another story, the history of a Jewish community that lived here for centuries.
During this two-hour walk, we’ll explore the story of the so-called “Pope’s Jews”, the Jewish communities who lived in Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin under papal rule. Their position was unusual: while Jews were expelled from many other parts of France, they were allowed to remain in papal territories, but their lives were also controlled by numerous restrictions. Along the way, we’ll talk about religion, professions, trade, family life, relations with Christian neighbours, restrictions imposed by the authorities, and the gradual transformation of the community after the French Revolution.
The tour is not intended as an academic lecture. My aim is to reconstruct the lives of the people who lived here and to show how Jewish history fits into the larger story of Avignon and Provence.
