Montpellier: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Montpellier (Occitan Montpelhièr) is a city in the south of France. It is the préfecture (administrative capital) of the Hérault département. It was founded in the 10th century. Population of the city: 225,392 (1999). Population of the metropolitan area (in French: aire urbaine) at the 1999 census was 459,916.

The name of the city, originally Monspessulanus, used to stand for mont pelé (the naked hill, because the vegetation was poor), or le mont de la colline (the mount of the hill) according to Montpellier-Herault.com.

The University of Montpellier is one of the oldest ones in France (founded in 1289).

Several housing projects have been designed by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill.

Many places in the New World are named after it, often with varying spellings: see Montpelier.

Geography and Location

Aerial map

History

Montpellier is one of the few cities in France that does not have a Roman background. In the early Middle Ages the nearby episcopal town of Maguelone was the major settlement in the area. But raids by pirates probably encouraged settlement a little further inland.

Montpellier became a possession of the kings of Aragon by the marriage of Peter II of Aragon with Mary of Montpellier. James III of Majorca sold the city to the king of France in 1349 to raise funds against Peter IV of Aragon.

Montpellier was the birthplace of:

• Antoine Jerome Balard (1802-1876), chemist
• Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), painter
• Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870), Impressionist painter
• Auguste Comte (1798-1857), a founder of the discipline of sociology
• Léo Malet (1909-1996), crime novelist
• Guillaume Mathieu, comte Dumas (1753-1837), military leader
• Charles Bernard Renouvier (1815-1903), philosopher
• Émile Saisset (1814-1863), philosopher