A little history of Narbonne archbishops' palace
And also
The tops
Since the 4th century, Narbonne was the seat of an archbishopric.
Next to the current cathedral begun in the 13th century, they let an empty space for the construction of the Palais Vieux ("Old Palace").
Where the junctions meet, the Madeleine tower was raised between 1272 and 1276.
From 1290, Gilles Aycelin, famous archbishop of Narbonne, erected a big keep on the medieval city wall. His successors raised the Palais Neuf ("New Palace"), completed in the 14th century.
One of the wing was occupied by the Consul's room, in the ground floor, and by the Synods room on the first floor. Synod? What's this?
Well, a religious gathering led by pope himself!
In the 17th century, they transformed the New Palace's apartments. And during the French Revolution, the archbishop seat was annulled... our poor palace was abandoned!
It was owned by the city hall in 1840 and restored by Viollet-le-Duc into Neogothic style.