Palace Of The Popes: No One Stopped Us
Beskar meets Gothic limestone in Avignon. The Palais des Papes security team had questions. The 14th-century walls had none. Field notes from the largest Gothic palace ever built.
FIELD NOTES
Armor Field Note: Palace of the Popes, Avignon, France
I approached the pale limestone fortress through Avignon's narrow medieval streets, the Gothic towers of the Palais des Papes rising above the old city walls like a monument to ecclesiastical power. The morning sun cast long shadows across the courtyard as tourists began gathering at the entrance gates.
The security checkpoint presented the usual complications. Guards studied my beskar plates with the kind of confused attention reserved for artifacts they couldn't classify. A supervisor was summoned. Hushed conversations followed. Several visitors photographed my armor while pretending to admire the palace facade. The staff eventually processed my credentials with the resigned efficiency of people who had given up trying to understand their day.
The palace opens at 0900 hours daily. Arrive before 1000 to avoid the tour groups that flood the Great Audience Hall. The audio guide costs nine euros and covers both the old and new palace sections. The structure spans seven popes and nearly a century of construction. Gothic architecture this ambitious requires serious defensive planning. The walls measure three meters thick in places. Pope Benedict XII knew something about fortification when he started this project in 1335. The frescoes in the Stag Room survived seven centuries of occupation, siege, and revolution. The view from the tower encompasses the Rhone Valley and the bridge that inspired the children's song.
Nobody questioned my right to examine medieval defensive positions firsthand.