Direct access

Cour d'Honneur
Consistoire
Cloître Benoît XII
Grand Tinel
Chambre du Parement
Chambre du Pape
Salle de Jésus
Chambre du Cerf
Sacristie nord
Sacristie sud
Grande Chapelle
Loggia
Grand escalier
Grande Audience
Place du Palais des Papes
Terrasse des Grands Dignitaires

Virtual tour

   

La Chambre du Parement
(The Parement Chamber)

The Parement Chamber is located in the eastern wing of the private apartments above the Jesus Hall. It is the antechamber to the Pope’s chamber, which are on the North side.

This term « parement » describes for all the tapestries that decorated the walls and seating. Later on, the Parement Chamber was called the «Parade Chamber».

The room was originally covered by a wood-panelled, barrel-vaulted ceiling, similar to the one in the Grand Tinel, which was also destroyed by fire in 1413. There was a fireplace, an altar, two seats and two wrought-iron candelabras. The Pope sat on a dais underneath a canopy. On the eastern wall, vestiges of the trompe-l’œil decoration give insight into how the room’s rich murals must have looked like.

The Parement Chamber underwent extensive alterations over the centuries as the marks on the walls show.
The two levels of arcading on the north and south wall correspond to the floors put in by the military to increase the palace’s habitable space. Similar traces appear in many rooms of the palace.

The Pope and the cardinals held secret consistories here. Important figures were also given audiences here.
This is where the Pope presented the Golden Rose to the person he wished to honour –usually a sovereign – on the 4th Sunday of Lent.

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