Promenade littéraire sur les traces de Pétrarque (1304-1374)

Walk led by Brigitte Urbani, honorary professor at the University of Aix-Marseille, texts read by Jean-Claude Delalondre, actor.
In 1326, after the death of his father who had forced him to study law, Petrarch returned to Avignon to devote himself to literature. Under the protection of Giovanni Colonna, appointed cardinal by John XXII, he received minor orders, which provided him with the means to travel and study Latin authors throughout Europe.
At the Curia, his eloquence opened all doors for him: he frequented scholars and artists, such as Simone Martini, while enjoying the pleasures and temptations of the city.
On April 6, 1327, in the church of Sainte-Claire, he met Laura, muse of an ideal love who inspired all his poetic work, beyond his death during the Black Death in 1348. His presumed tomb, at the Cordeliers, remains an uncertain place, between history and myth.
Although he led a worldly life in Avignon, Petrarch detested the papal city, vilifying it in his letters and calling it "the homeland of larvae and lemurs." He longed for the return of the papacy to Rome.
In 1336, his ascent of Mont Ventoux marked a desire for spiritual elevation and solitude which led him, as early as 1337, to withdraw to the fountain of Vaucluse, on the banks of the Sorgue.

Upon reservation.

Other dates:
– Saturday, June 6: Mont Ventoux
– Saturday, June 13: Fontaine-de-Vaucluse