The Comtat Venaissin,
unique historical territory
Papal lands (1229 to 1791)

Here, the passage of time and the work wrought by man have left their mark …The Romans planted vineyards, the Greeks cultivated the olive tree. Above all, the popes, reigning in nearby Avignon, retained possession of the Carpentras area for centuries, strongly influencing the cultural development of Carpentras and the Comtat Venaissin.

The word “Venaissin” appears for the first time during the High Middle Ages, and historians continue to dispute the origin. Some think it comes from Vendasca or Venasque, a nearby town which was a bishopric between the 5th and 9th centuries. Others think it comes from the original name of Avignon, Avinicus.

Current thinking tends to agree that Venaissin relates to the town of Venasque.
After a period of warring tribes and invasions, the Romans planted vineyards and olive trees, making Carpentras a prime market center.
However, in 1229, the Treaty of Paris, signed by Saint Louis, King of France, forced the Count of Toulouse, defeated by the Albigensians, to relinquish the Comtat Venaissin to the Holy See.

The Comtat Venaissin became a pontifical state, and remained so until 1791, when it became part of France. The Pope appointed a bishop from Rome, known as a “rector”, to administer the Comtat. The bishops first stayed in Venasque, then in Pernes, and moved to Carpentras in 1320, where they remained until the area became part of France.