Montpellier

Montpellier, France

The Arc de Triomphe in Montpellier glows amber as the low sun shines through its central opening at sunset.

Montpellier is a sunny, student-filled Mediterranean city where a medieval core, grand squares and newer quarters sit close together.

The place

Montpellier sits in southern France a short way inland from the Mediterranean, in the department of Hérault, of which it is the prefecture. About 310,000 people live in the city proper, at an elevation of just 14 m, so the ground is flat and the centre is easy to cover on foot. Residents are called Montpelliérains or Montpelliéraines. The heart of the city is the Écusson, the old town, a tangle of lanes that bend under stone arches and carry the names of trades once practised there. The big open space at its edge is the Place de la Comédie, ringed with café terraces, where most days seem to begin and end. West of the Écusson, the Peyrou esplanade offers space, shade and long views. Beyond the old centre the city spreads into newer districts such as Port Marianne, where modern public buildings and a large basin show how quickly the place has grown since the 1990s. Students number about 70,000, which gives the streets a young, late-evening rhythm in term time and a slower, emptier feel in the summer holidays. The coast is close, so many visitors pair the city with a beach day, though Montpellier itself is a place of squares, courtyards and terraces rather than sand. Summers are hot and bright, and winters are mild enough for coffee outdoors on sunny days.

Its story

Montpellier has a younger history than many Mediterranean cities, and its beginnings are tied to pirates and dye. In the early Middle Ages the main settlement nearby was the episcopal town of Maguelone on the coast, but sea raids pushed people to settle a little farther inland, and Montpellier first appears in a document of 985. A local ruling family, the Guilhems, merged two hamlets and fortified them with a castle and walls. The name probably comes from medieval Latin for 'Woad Mountain'; woad was a plant used for blue dye, and the 'mountain' was really only a heap of stones. By the twelfth century the town was trading across the Mediterranean, and it had a name for tolerance, with Jewish and Muslim communities and later Protestants living and working there. Medicine became its calling card: teaching it was opened to all in 1180, and the university was established in 1220. Montpellier belonged to the Crown of Aragon and then to Majorca, and was the birthplace of James I of Aragon, before being sold to France in 1349. Of the medieval defences, only two towers remain, the Tour des Pins and the Tour de la Babote, both built around 1200. The seventeenth century added a citadel raised under Louis XIII above the old town, and in 1689 the royal Peyrou promenade.

What to see

Culture

Montpellier's cultural life runs on its students and its summers. The city supports two large concert halls, Le Zénith Sud and L'Arena, for touring acts, while Le Corum, a cultural and conference centre, holds three auditoriums. In summer the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier fills historic courtyards and Le Corum with opera, classical music and jazz, and many of its events are free. In autumn the Cinemed festival, running since 1979, screens Mediterranean cinema from features and documentaries to student shorts. Away from the programmed events, daily life revolves around terraces, markets and long lunches. The city's Occitan heritage shows up in place names and local pride more than in everyday speech, and its Aragonese past and later arrivals from across the Mediterranean give it an outward-looking, easygoing character. Because so many residents are young, the old town can be loud late on warm nights, particularly around the bars. Some small shops close on Sundays and for part of the summer, so plan errands accordingly. Greet shopkeepers and café staff with a 'bonjour' before asking for anything, and keep your voice low on old-town terraces at night, since people live in the flats above the bars.

What to wear

Montpellier has no single costume that people wear day to day, but the region's traditional Occitan dress survives with folk dance groups and at festivals. It typically means long skirts, shawls and lace caps for women, and waistcoats, sashes and berets for men, made from cotton, linen and wool. The city's own link with cloth is the woad plant that gave it its name, a source of blue dye. Everyday style now is relaxed Mediterranean smart-casual: linen shirts, light dresses, jeans, trainers and sunglasses, with students dressing down and office workers dressing a notch up in the evenings. Visitors should pack light, breathable fabrics, a hat and sunscreen for the long hot summer, and comfortable shoes with good grip, since the old town's stone paving is uneven and polished by use. A light layer helps on breezy evenings, and winter days can feel cool when the wind blows. Swimwear belongs at the beach, not in the streets. When stepping into the cathedral or other churches, cover bare shoulders and avoid very short shorts, which is a courtesy rather than a strict rule.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. May–June and September–October bring warm, bright weather with terraces in full swing and less of the heat of July–August, when the city is hot and the coast draws crowds. Winters are mild but can be breezy and grey.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Montpellier's airport has connections through Air France's Paris hubs and direct flights to several European cities; a tram or taxi covers the last leg into the centre. By train, high-speed services run from Paris in about three hours, with links from Barcelona and Madrid. Some fast trains bypass the central Saint-Roch station, so check which station your ticket uses.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources