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Commune of Carpentras Hôtel-Dieu in Carpentras
Location
Coordinates	44° 03' 21" N 5° 02' 56" E
Administration
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Vaucluse
Arrondissement	Carpentras
Canton	Chief town of 2 cantons
Mayor	Jean-Claude Andrieu (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	56 m–212 m (avg. 95 m)
Land area¹	37.92 km²
Population² (1999)	26,090
- Density	688/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	84031/ 84200
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Carpentras (Provençal Occitan: Carpentràs in classical norm or Carpentras in Mistralian norm) is a town and commune in the département of Vaucluse in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région of France. It stands on the banks of the Auzon, a tributary of the Ardèche River. As capital of the Comtat Venaissin, it was frequently the residence of the Avignon popes; the Papal States retained possession of the Venaissin until the French Revolution. Nowadays, Carpentras is a commercial center for Comtat Venaissin.

Carpentras was a commercial site used by Greek merchants in ancient times, and known to Romans at first as Carpentoracte Meminorum, mentioned by Pliny, then renamed Forum Neronis ("Forum of Nero"); the city retains an impressive Roman triumphal arch, that has been enclosed by the bishops' palace, rebuilt in 1640, now a law court, and a machiolated city gate, the Porte d'Orange.

It was the seat of a bishop and its Church of St Siffrein, Gothic with some Romanesque remains, was formerly a cathedral. Pope Julius II was made the Bishop of Carpentras when he was 17.^[1]

Carpentras has been an important center of French Judaism, and is home to the oldest synagogue in France (1367), which still holds services.

In May 1990, there was a desecration of the Jewish cemetery (see French and European Nationalist Party [1]).

Its traditional confectionery is the berlingot, a small hard candy with thin white stripes, originally made from the syrup left over from conservation of fruits.

Carpentras was the birthplace of:

• Carpentras (also known as Elzéar Genet) (c.1470-1548), prominent early Renaissance composer
• Joseph Duplessis, (1725-1802) portraitist
• Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym, (1765-1851), author and demonologist
• François-Vincent Raspail (1794-1878), chemist, physiologist, and socialist
• Édouard Daladier (1884-1970) politician and Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War

Carpentras is twinned with:

• Vevey, Switzerland
• Seesen, Germany

• Carpentras official website (in French)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911 "Carpentras"
• Pictures of Carpentras Cathedral: [2], [3], [4]
• Pictures of Carpentras Synagogue: [5], [6], [7]

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