Jardin des doms, Urban park and remarkable garden near Palais des Papes, Avignon, France

Jardin des Doms is a park situated on a raised rocky platform overlooking the city, spanning over 29,000 square meters. The site rises roughly 30 meters above the Rhône River and contains pathways, water features, and seating areas distributed throughout its grounds.

The Rocher des Doms was Avignon's first settlement site, inhabited from the Neolithic, with remains now held in the Calvet Museum; a Gallo-Roman oppidum and a medieval castle followed. In 1830 a water reservoir and château d'eau was built on the rock's northern top to supply the city with drinking water, and the public garden was laid out around it over the following decades.

The garden's name comes from the rock itself, the Rocher des Doms, occupied since the Neolithic. A vineyard replanted with the twelve main côtes-du-rhône grape varieties, the Clos de la vigne du Palais des Papes, grows inside the walls. Statues of local figures such as Félix Gras and Jean Althen stand among the lawns.

Access to the site comes from stairs on different sides, particularly convenient from the northern area near Boulevard de la Ligne. The park is open daily with seasonal closing times, and visitors should prepare for elevation changes as they explore the grounds.

The garden holds a small vineyard, the Clos de la vigne du Palais des Papes, planted with the twelve main grape varieties of the Côtes-du-Rhône. Its trees, planted when the English-style garden was laid out, are now over a century old.