For other places named Montpellier or Montpelier, see Montpelier.
Montpellier (Occitan Montpelhièr) is a city in the south of France. It is the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon région, as well as the préfecture (administrative capital) of the Hérault département. Population of the city (commune) of Montpellier at the 1999 census was 244,300 inhabitants, whereas the whole metropolitan area (in French: aire urbaine) had a population of 459,916 inhabitants in 1999. As of February 2004 estimates, the population of the city of Montpellier reached 244,700 inhabitants, meaning a 1.7% population growth per year between 1999 and 2004.
GeographyThe city is situated on hilly ground 10 km (6 miles) inland from the Mediterranean coast at the coordinates 43°37N 3°52E, on the River Lez. The name of the city, originally Monspessulanus, is said to have stood for mont pelé (the naked hill, because the vegetation was poor), or le mont de la colline (the mount of the hill) [1]; an alternative theory is that it was named for the hill of Monte Pestelario.
Lords of MontpellierThe University of Montpellier is one of the oldest in France, having been granted a charter in 1220 by Cardinal Conrad von Urach and confirmed by Pope Nicholas IV in a papal bull of 1289. It was suppressed during the French Revolution but was re-established in 1896.
It is not known exactly at what date the schools of literature were founded which developed into the Montpellier faculty of arts; it may be that they were a direct continuation of the Gallo-Roman schools. The school of law was founded by Placentinus, a doctor from Bologna university, who came to Montpellier in 1160, taught there during two different periods, and died there in 1192. The school of medicine was founded perhaps by a graduate of the Spanish medical schools; it is certain that, as early as 1137, there were excellent physicians at Montpellier. The statutes given in 1220 by Cardinal Conrad, legate of Honorius III, which were completed in 1240 by Pierre de Conques, placed this school under the direction of the Bishop of Maguelonne. Pope Nicholas IV issued a Bull in 1289, combining all the schools into a university, which was placed under the direction of the bishop, but which in fact enjoyed a large measure of autonomy.
Theology was at first taught in the convents, in which St. Anthony of Padua, Raymond Lullus, and the Dominican Bernard de la Treille lectured. Two letters of King John prove that a faculty of theology existed at Montpellier independently of the convents, in January, 1350. By a Bull of 17 December, 1421, Martin V granted canonical institution to this faculty and united it closely with the faculty of law.
In the sixteenth century the faculty of theology disappeared for a time, when Calvinism, in the reign of Henry II of France, held complete possession of the city. It resumed its functions after Louis XIII had reestablished the royal power at Montpellier in 1622; but the rivalries of Dominicans and Jesuits interfered seriously with the prosperity of the faculty, which disappeared at the Revolution. The faculty numbered among its illustrious pupils of law Petrarch, who spent four years at Montpellier, and among its lecturers Guillaume de Nogaret, chancellor to Philip the Fair, Guillaume de Grimoard, afterwards pope under the name of Urban V, and Pedro de Luna, antipope as Benedict XIII. But after the fifteenth century this faculty fell into decay, as did also the faculty of arts, although for a time, under Henry IV of France, the latter faculty had among its lecturers Casaubon.
The Montpellier school of medicine owed its success to the ruling of the Guilhems, lords of the town, by which any licensed physician might lecture there; there was no fixed limit to the number of teachers, lectures were multiplied, and there was a great wealth of teaching. Rabelais took his medical degrees at Montpellier. It was in this school that the biological theory of vitalism, elaborated by Barthez (1734-1806), had its origin. The French Revolution did not interrupt the existence of the faculty of medicine. The faculties of science and of letters were re-established in 1810; that of law in 1880. It was on the occasion of the sixteenth centenary of the university, celebrated in 1889, that the Government of France announced its intention -- which has since been realized -- of reorganizing the provincial universities in France.
Notable sightsMontpellier was the birthplace of:
Students at the University of Montpellier have included François Rabelais (1493-1553) and Nostradamus (1503-1566).
Facilities TransportMontpellier is served by railway, including TGV trains.
The Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport is located in the area of Fréjorgues, in the town of Mauguio, southeast of Montpellier.
The TAM (Transports de l'Agglomération de Montpellier) manages the city's public transportation, including its tramway network and several parking facilities.
Line 2 of the Montpellier tram systems was officially opened on Saturday, December 16, 2006 with bands, singers, jugglers, fireworks and a weekend of free tram travel. The new line of 19’8Km route serves 5 communes and expects to carry 52, 000 passengers a day. Starting in Jacou on the North East side of the town, in a copse of conifers, the line goes SW though the city centre and passes the train station to St Jean De Védas on the South West of the town. There are plenty of parking sites along the line which crosses Line 1 at St Roch station, Place de l'Europe and again in front of the Corum.
Work on Line 3, which is planned to be in service by 2010, will start later in the spring. This 22.4 km line will link Juvenac and Perols with a branch to Lattes and serve 32 stations.
SportThe city is home to a variety of professional sports teams:
Montpellier is twinned with:
