Livrée de Ceccano, Medieval cardinal palace and public library in central Avignon, France

The Livrée de Ceccano is a cardinal's residence built between 1329 and 1350 near Place Saint-Didier, made of two large buildings of unequal height set around an inner courtyard. Its tower, begun by Cardinal d'Arrablay and finished by Cardinal Ceccano, carries a crenellated top. Inside, the halls have a long painted timber ceiling of beams and joists with geometric and floral motifs; today the ground floor holds the municipal library.

Cardinal Annibal de Ceccano inhabited this palace from 1333 to 1350 during the period when Avignon served as the papal seat. The structure was built and occupied during this era of significant religious power and influence in the city.

The municipal library moved into the palace in 1982, leaving its former home in what is now the Musée Calvet. The reading room occupies a hall under a painted timber ceiling of beams and joists with repeating geometric and floral motifs in red, blue and ochre; shelf signs mark sections such as "577 NATURE".

The municipal library moved into the palace in 1982, so the reading rooms are reached through the former cardinal's residence near Place Saint-Didier. Enter from the street side and look up: the painted timber ceiling runs the length of the hall above the shelving, with strip lights hung beneath it. Signs mark sections such as "Ber Cel" and "577 NATURE".

The painted timber ceiling of the reading hall is not stone: its beams and joists carry repeating geometric and floral motifs in reddish brown, ochre, blue and green, with diamond patterns and foliate scrolls. The palace was listed as a monument historique on 23 September 1966.