Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; la, Carpentoracte) is a commune in the

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.department in the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pre ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

in southeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. As capital of the

Comtat Venaissin The Comtat Venaissin (; Provençal: , Mistralian norm: , classical norm: ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274‒1791) in what is now the region of France. The entire region was an enclav ...

, it was frequently the residence of the Avignon popes; the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

retained possession of the Venaissin until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. Nowadays, Carpentras is a commercial center for Comtat Venaissin and is famous for the black truffle markets held from winter to early spring. Carpentras briefly held France's all-time high-temperature record, during the heatwave of June 2019.

History

Classical antiquity

Carpentras Stela, in CIS II 141 (cropped)

Carpentras was a commercial site used by

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

merchants in ancient times, and known to Romans at first as Carpentoracte Meminorum, mentioned by Pliny, then renamed Forum Neronis ("Forum of Nero"); the city retains an impressive

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cr ...

, that has been enclosed by the bishops' palace, rebuilt in 1640, now a law court, and a machicolated

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, go ...

, the ''Porte d'Orange''. Hotel dieu carpentras by JM Rosier

Ancient Diocese of Carpentras

For the history of the

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of Carpentras, see

Ancient Diocese of Carpentras Carpentras (''Lat.'' dioecesis Carpentoratensis) was a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Provence region (later part of France), from the later Roman Empire until 1801. It was part of the ecclesiastical province under the Metropolit ...

Middle Ages

At the beginning of the

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than in Rome. The situation a ...

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

took up residence, along with the Roman Curia, in Carpentras in 1313. His successor,

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected b ...

, settled definitively at

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...

Municipal library

Joseph-Dominique d'Inguimbert, Bishop of Carpentras from 1735 to 1754, established a great scholarly library which Jean-François Delmas, the chief librarian as of 2009, has called "the oldest of our municipal libraries"; known as the Bibliothèque Inguimbertine and now holding around 140,000 books, it is known to bibliophiles all over France and is scheduled to move into roomier quarters in the former

Hôtel-Dieu In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu ( en, hostel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris ...

in 2013.

French Revolution and return to France

Until 1791, Carpentras was part of the Papal States, not of the Kingdom of France. Like most communities across France, Carpentras played a role in the 1789-1799

, particularly during the rule of the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and replaced b ...

. After the 'Anti-Royalist' September 4, 1797

Coup of 18 Fructidor The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the Directory, the government of the French First Republic, with support from the French military. The coup wa ...

, on October 22, 1797, counter-revolutionaries take the city's government and hold it in protest for 24 hours.

Jewish community

Into the 20th and 21st centuries, Carpentras has been an important centre of French

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

and is home to the oldest

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

in France, which opened in 1367 and is still active today. The Jewish cemetery was desecrated by members of the

French and European Nationalist Party The French and European Nationalist Party (french: Parti nationaliste français et européen or PNFE) was a French nationalist militant organization active between 1987 and 1999. Led by Claude Cornilleau until 1996, its slogan was "France first, ...

in May 1990, causing a public uproar and a demonstration in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

that was attended by 200,000 people, including then-president

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

Population

Geography

Carpentras stands on the banks of the river

Auzon Auzon (; oc, Auson) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Haute-Loire department *Franks Casket The Franks Casket (or the Auzon Casket) is a small Anglo-Saxon whale's bon ...

, a tributary of the Sorgue. It is 23 km southwest of

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; oc, Ventor, label= Provençal ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest ...

, and 23 km northeast of

. Carpentras station has rail connections to Sorgues and Avignon.

Climate

In the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, Carpentras has a borderline

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(''Cfa''), and

hot-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(''Csa'') with cool winters and hot summers. The rainiest seasons are spring (April–May) and autumn (September–October), where heavy downpours may happen.

Traditions

Carpentras is famous for the

Truffle A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including '' Geopora'', '' Pe ...

market that takes place every Friday morning during the winter months.Truffle Market
/ref> Its traditional confectionery is the ''berlingot'', a small hard candy with thin white stripes, originally made from the syrup left over from conservation of fruits.

Personalities

Carpentras was the birthplace of (chronologically): *

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; la, Carpentoracte) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. ...

(also known as Elzéar Genet) (c.1470–1548), prominent early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

composer *

Hercule Audiffret Hercule Audiffret (15 May 1603 – 6 or 16 April 1659), known as "le Père Hercule", was a French orator, religious writer and Superior General of the Congrégation des Doctrinaires. He was the maternal uncle of Esprit Fléchier. Life Hercule A ...

(1603-1659), orator and Superior General of the '' Congrégation des Doctrinaires'' *

Louis Archimbaud Louis Archimbaud (November 1705 – 13 May 1789) was a Comtadin composer. He was one of the last representatives of the Baroque style of French organ school. Archimbaud was born in Carpentras and educated there in the Carpentras Cathedral school. ...

(1705–1789), composer and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

Carpentras Cathedral Carpentras Cathedral (''Cathédrale Saint-Siffrein de Carpentras'') is a Roman Catholic church and former cathedral in Carpentras, Provence, France. The church was built in the 15th century by the order of Benedict XIII. The site used to be a ...

* Joseph Duplessis (1725–1802),

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...

ist * Jean-Pierre-Xavier Bidauld (1743–1813),

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

* Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld (1758–1846),

Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym or better known as M. Berbiguier (1765 – December 3, 1851) was a French author and demonologist who may have been suffering from psychosis. He was born, and died, in Carpentras in the sou ...

, (1765–1851), author and demonologist * Victor Olivier de Puymanel (1768–1799),

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

volunteer, and adventurer in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

François-Vincent Raspail François-Vincent Raspail, L.L.D., M.D. (25 January 1794 – 7 January 1878) was a French chemist, naturalist, physician, physiologist, attorney, and socialist politician. Biography Raspail was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. A member of th ...

(1794–1878),

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemica ...

, and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Jean-Joseph Bonaventure Laurens Jean-Joseph Bonaventure Laurens (14 July 1801, Carpentras – 28 June 1890, Montpellier) was regarded by some as a "universal spirit", as attested not only by his paintings, watercolours and lithographs, but also by his vocation as a musician, ar ...

(1801–1890),

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

Édouard Daladier Édouard Daladier (; 18 June 1884 – 10 October 1970) was a French Radical-Socialist (centre-left) politician, and the Prime Minister of France who signed the Munich Agreement before the outbreak of World War II. Daladier was born in Carpe ...

(1884–1970) politician and

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...

at the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Daniel Lazard Daniel Lazard (born December 10, 1941) is a French mathematician and computer scientist. He is emeritus professor at the University of Paris VI. Career Daniel Lazard was born in Carpentras, in southern France. After his undergraduate educati ...

(1941–),

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (a ...

* Bruno Boscherie (1950–), fencer, Olympic Gold medalist *

Christophe Maé Christophe Martichon (; born 16 October 1975), better known by his stage name Christophe Maé (), is a French pop singer. Career Maé learned to play the violin at age five, and later began playing the guitar and harmonica at age 16 after he wa ...

(1975–),

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

* Éric Salignon (1982–), racing driver * Thomas Mangani (1987–), professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

* Raphaël Cacérès (1987–), professional footballer

International relations

Carpentras is twinned with: *

Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...

, Switzerland *

Seesen Seesen is a town and municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the northwestern edge of the Harz mountain range, approx. west of Goslar. History The Saxon settlement of ''Sehusa'' was first mentioned i ...

, Germany *

Ponchatoula Ponchatoula is the second-largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. The population was 6,559 at the 2010 census and 7,545 at the time of the 2020 population estimates program. Etymology It is speculated that the name is derived from the Ch ...

, Louisiana, USA *

Camaiore Camaiore is a city and ''comune'' of 32,513 inhabitants within the province of Lucca, Tuscany, central-western Italy. It stretches from the Apuan Alps to the east, to the plains and the coast of Versilia to the west. History Camaiore has Roman or ...

, Italy

References

External links

*
Carpentras official website
(in French) * * Pictures of Carpentras Cathedral

* Pictures of Carpentras Synagogue

{{Authority control Carpentras, Communes of Vaucluse Subprefectures in France