For a good overview of Villeneuve – and Avignon – make your way to the Tour Philippe-le-Bel at the bottom of montée de la Tour (bus stop "Philippe-le-Bel"). This tower was built to guard the French end of Avignon's Pont St-Bénézet (or Pont d'Avignon), and a climb to the top (Tues–Sun: April–Sept 10am–12.30pm & 3–7pm; Oct–March 10am–noon & 2–7pm; €1.60) will be rewarded with stunning views.Even more indicative of French distrust of its neighbours is the enormous Fort St-André (daily: April–Sept 10am–1pm & 2–6pm; rest of year 10am–1pm & 2–5pm; €4), whose bulbous double-towered gateway and vast white walls loom over the town. Inside, refreshingly, there's not a hint of a postcard stall or souvenir shop – just tumbledown houses and the former abbey, with its gardens of olive trees, ruined chapels, lily ponds and dovecotes (Tues–Sun: July & Aug 10am–12.30pm & 2–6pm; Sept–June 10am–noon & 2–5pm; €4). Its cliff-face terrace is the classic spot for artists to aim their brushes, or photographers their cameras, over Avignon. You can reach the approach to the fortress, montée du Fort, from place Jean-Jaurès on rue de la République, or by the "rapid slope" of rue Pente-Rapide, a cobbled street of tiny houses leading off rue des Recollets on the north side of place Charles-David. Almost at the top of rue de la République, on the right, allée des Muriers leads from place des Chartreux to the entrance of La Chartreuse du Val de Bénédiction (daily: April–Sept 9am–6.30pm; Oct–March 9.30am–5.30pm; €5.50). This Carthusian monastery, one of the largest in France, was founded by the sixth of the Avignon popes, Innocent VI (pope 1352–62), whose sharp profile is outlined on his tomb in the church. The buildings, which were sold off after the Revolution and gradually restored last century, are totally unembellished. With the exception of the Giovanetti frescoes in the chapel beside the refectory, all the paintings and treasures of the monastery have been dispersed, leaving you with a strong impression of the austerity of the Carthusian order. You're free to wander around unguided, through the three cloisters, the church, chapels, cells and communal spaces, which have little to see but plenty of atmosphere to absorb. It's one of the best venues in the Festival of Avignon. Another festival venue is the fourteenth-century Église Collègiale Notre-Dame and its cloister on place St-Marc close to the Mairie (Jan, March & Oct–Dec Tues–Sun 10am–noon & 2–5.30pm; April to mid-June & last two weeks Sept Tues–Sun 10am–12.30pm & 3–7pm; mid-June to mid-Sept daily 10am–12.30pm & 3–7pm; free). Notre-Dame's most important treasure is a rare fourteenth-century smiling Madonna and Child made from a single tusk of ivory, now housed, along with many of the paintings from the Chartreuse, in the Musée Pierre-de-Luxembourg, just to the north along rue de la République (same hours as Église Collègiale Notre-Dame; €3). The spacious layout includes a single room, with comfortable settees and ample documentation, given over to the most stunning painting in the collection – The Coronation of the Virgin, painted in 1453 by Enguerrand Quarton as the altarpiece for the church in the Chartreuse.
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