Musée de la Collégiale Notre-Dame

The museum and church described here are in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, the small town across the Rhône from Avignon. The collegiate church of Notre-Dame at Villeneuve-lès-Avignon is famous for the copy of the Pietà of Villeneuve, a masterpiece of fifteenth-century painting whose original is now in the Louvre in Paris.

Villeneuve-lès-Avignon has an unusual history. In the fourteenth century, the popes lived at Avignon, which was then outside the kingdom of France, and the cardinals and church dignitaries built their palaces on the other bank of the Rhône, in French territory, where the town grew up around a monastery. The collegiate church of Notre-Dame was founded in the early fourteenth century by Cardinal Arnaud de Via, a relative of Pope John XXII, and its tall Gothic nave and cloister still reflect the confident style of the papal court in its southern form, lighter and simpler than the great cathedrals of the north.

The church's collections give the visit its focus. The Pietà of Villeneuve, painted around the middle of the fifteenth century and attributed to the artist Enguerrand Quarton, shows the dead Christ in the arms of the Virgin against a golden background, with the town of Jerusalem on the horizon, and it is considered one of the great works of French painting of the late Middle Ages. A copy is displayed in the church, and visitors can see where the original once hung. The church also holds a very fine ivory statue of the Virgin from the fourteenth century, a delicate carving that is among its best-known treasures, together with other sculpture, goldsmith's work and furniture. The cloister next to the church is a quiet and elegant space of arches and a garden.

The town has other major sights. The Fort Saint-André, a medieval fortress on the hill above, gives a view over the Rhône and Avignon, and the Tour Philippe le Bel, at the end of the old bridge, recalls the border between kingdoms. The Chartreuse du Val de Bénédiction, a former Carthusian monastery, is one of the largest in France and is now a centre for writers and performing arts. Avignon itself, with the Palais des Papes, lies a short walk or drive across the river.

Allow an hour for the church and cloister. It suits art lovers, history readers and anyone exploring the area around Avignon. Opening times are limited, so check before you go.