\b0 This city in Provence, which we know to have been founded by the Phocaeans of \b \ATXul1024 \cf4 \ATXht256 Marseilles\b0 \ATXul0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , reached the peak of its splendor in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Becoming a possession of the papacy, it served as a refuge for the French Pope Clement VII who, fleeing the troubles in Rome, moved th
ere in 1309. His successors, all French, built ôthe Palace of the Popesö and filled the city with churches and monasteries. They also founded an university. A fortress as well as princely residence, the palace was constructed in the fifteenth century. It
s walls and towers surround courtyards and gardens, chapels, banquet halls, and private apartments decorated with frescoes and tapestries. Each year, the palace provides the setting for the most celebrated of all international theater festivals.\par
