COPS-XI : Venue

Conference venue

The conference will be held at the Avignon Convention Centre.

The Convention Centre occupies two private wings of the Palace of the Popes, located in the heart of the historical centre of Avignon, easily accessible on foot from the hotels.

Plenary sessions will be held in the Benedict XII Cellier.

The room was once an immense cellar, dug into the rock in 1337, which ran underneath the entire length of the Conclave wing. A single door in the cloister gallery led to this cellar.

The Grand Cellier did not have a vaulted ceiling, it had a frame ceiling and the main beams rested on columns.

Conference exhibition, posters, coffee breaks and dining will all be held in Great Audience.

The Grande Audience Hall is an impressive venue measuring 50 meters by 16 meters, with 5 massive columns in the middle. Long windows let in natural daylight. The Grande Audience Hall is located off the Honour Courtyard. Here sat the judges at the Sacred Apostolic Palace Tribunal. The vaulted ceiling is embellished with a fresco showing the twelve prophets, painted in 1352 by Matteo Giovannetti.

For those who register early on the Sunday, we aim to provide audio guides and entrance to the Popes Palace itself in order for you to individually visit the venue.

We aim to organize the Sunday evening welcome reception at the Benedict XII Cloister

Again, if all goes to plan, we aim to have the aperitif of the conference dinner on the Saint Benezets Bridge or Pont d'Avignon (many of you will know the song) and then move up to the Jeanne Laurent Building for a meal with a view over the Rhone river.

WIFI, to consult emails etc will be available in the Great Audience and the Welcome Reception Area 'Salle des Gardes'

More on how to reach Avignon can be found here