The Comtat Venaissin, often called the Comtat for short (in Provençal lou Coumtat Venessin, la Coumtat in mistralian norm and lo Comtat Venaicin, la Comtat in classical norm), is the former name of the region around the city of Avignon in what is now the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France. It comprised roughly the area between the Rhône, the Durance and Mont Ventoux, with a small exclave located to the north around the town of Valréas bought by the pope John XXII. The entire region was an enclave within the Kingdom of France. The Comtat also bordered (and mostly surrounded) the Principality of Orange. Avignon itself was never part of the Comtat but constituted a separate comtat (county) in its own right, in effect forming an enclave within an enclave. The region is still known inf