A sub-prefecture of the Vaucluse department with Apt, Carpentras is the capital of the Comtat Venaissin, a former State founded in 1274 and dissolved in 1791 that was part of the Papal States. The city hence benefited from the pontifical munificence and even lodged Pope Clement V, who established his curia there in 1313. Long ruled by bishops, it extended and was surrounded by an enclosure of which the current gate of Orange is a vestige.