A bright, entirely renovated, 140-m² apartment, in Avignon, in a former Renaissance palace boasting remarkable ceilings with emblazoned closures - ref
A bright, entirely renovated, 140-m² apartment, in Avignon, in a former Renaissance palace boasting remarkable ceilings with emblazoned closures.
This property is in the heart of the Avignon papacy, a term that refers to the residence and administrative estate occupied by nine popes between 1305 and 1418, in the maze of narrow, now pedestrianised, medieval streets surrounding the palace which immortalised the city's fame. The nearby covered market and many shops, five senior and junior high schools as well as three hospitals make up the surrounding environment in the international capital of theatre, with its cultural venues, monuments and terraces that are lively throughout the year. Avignon, the centre of the Côtes-du-Rhône winemaking area, is less than 25 kilometres from the Alpilles Mountains, 40 kilometres from the Luberon Mountains, 60 kilometres from Mont Ventoux and 55 minutes from the seaside via the N572 major road. Avignon also boasts an airport and two railway stations, from one of which high-speed TGV trains put Paris within 2 hours 45 minutes reach.
The former palazetto, in which the apartment is located on the second floor beneath the rafters, is one of the survivors of the first major urban regeneration and renovation campaign in the medieval part of the city, carried out in the late 17th century and throughout the 18th century by the Franque dynasty of Avignon architects, in particular Jean-Baptiste and one of his two sons, François II. The property was known as the Hôtel des Beaux de Roaix and was the residence of the Belli family, who came from the Piedmont region in the early 16th century, in the entourage of the papal vice-legates during a period when Avignon was part of the Holy Roman Empire. Today, outside at the corner of the street, it still boasts the statuette of a Renaissance Madonna, topped with a hooked spire, the only remnant and witness to its rich palatial past.
It was altered in the 18th century and now possesses a discrete facade with rectangular windows punctuated by a narrow door from the street, which opens onto a no less modest flight of stairs. The modernly renovated and well-maintained communal areas of this small commonhold are not typical of Provence townhouses. Indeed, the former access porch has been transformed into a shop. Modern simplicity rather than an ostentatious reconstruction has been the guiding force in the restoration of these spaces, which do not require any further work.
The apartment, however, has fully retained its splendour of yesteryear, with an opulence that is astonishing. It is the first apartment on the landing and opens into a corridor that runs along its length, providing easy and immediate access to all the rooms facing south towards the exclusively pedestrianised street. To the right, there is a utility room, a kitchen, a lounge and a bedroom with an en suite bathroom, while to the left overlooking the courtyard, a spare bedroom is adjacent to a shower room. No neighbours overlook the apartment, whose windows on the street-facing facade look out onto the baroque features of a former church listed as a historical monument and recently transformed into a theatre, which is a common occurrence within Avignon's walls. Occupants will no doubt never tire of watching the exemplary surrounding baroque architecture change with the direction of the sun's rays.
The apartmentIts most spectacular element is the lounge, which is bathed in light, boasting a remarkable Renaissance-era painted wooden coffered and emblazoned ceiling The coffering or closures have been carefully restored and are arranged in five rows across the room's length and three across its width. In each closure, the central shield bearing the coat of arms is surrounded by figures illustrating the activity of the family in question. A monumental sculpted wooden fireplace added ...
