Where is the Papal Palace in Avignon? The fact is that for 69 years the city served as the seat of the popes, from which Clement V, on the orders of Philip IV, moved his residence here from Rome. But even after this period, known as the "Avignon captivity of the popes", until 1409 the city was the residence of many unrecognized popes. The palace consists of two architectural buildings: the Old Palace of Pope Boniface - a real fortress located on an impregnable rock, and the New Palace, which was built under Pope Clement - he loved luxury more than any of the Roman pontiffs.→