Montpellier, the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon department, is much loved by French students. The local university was a medical school in the twelfth century.
Montpellier suffered a lot during the religious wars, but in the seventeenth century the city, which became the administrative center of the southern Languedoc, was experiencing its heyday. It was at this time that the Baroque esplanade Du Peroux complex dedicated to Louis XIV was laid out.

The heart of the city beats in Comedy Square, named after the municipal Opera and Comedy Theater.
In 1755, the royal military engineer Jacques-Philippe Marechal built Montpellier's first municipal theater building on the site of the former military square. The central part of the square - the best place for meetings and walks - had an oval shape, for which it was nicknamed "the egg" by the townspeople. In 1785 the Marechal theater burned down, but three years later it was rebuilt. In 1881 a fire destroyed the building again, and in 1888 architect Joseph Bernard, who began his work with the famous Charles Garnier, built the theater in the form in which it has survived to this day.
The central part of the Place de la Comédie is still a favorite meeting place and its historic unofficial name is reminded by the oval curb around the fountain with the Graces, the symbols of Montpellier. It hosts various sporting and cultural events, a grape market in autumn and a Christmas market in December. The Place de la Comédie is mainly a pedestrian zone, but there are also streetcars.

Four kilometers north of the center of Montpellier is a magnificent zoo, the second largest in all of France. It is home to a huge number of wild animals from different continents of our planet. There are African lions, South American spiders, Asian snakes, European deer, Australian emus and many, many other animals.
Next to the zoo is the Amazonian Orangery (Serre Amazonienne) with Amazonian jungles, piranhas, alligators and South American reptiles. Cost of admission to the Montpellier Zoo: free of charge. But you have to pay to enter the Amazonian Orangery.

You can see a very modern city in which the old times are taken care of. The center of the city is always full of students; there are magnificent palaces, and not only the buildings themselves but also their courtyards are worth seeing.

The Arc de Triomphe, also called the Peyroux Gate, is one of the main symbols of the city of Montpellier. The main decoration of the arch are medallions depicting various achievements of King Louis XIV, such as the construction of the Languedoc Canal between the Mediterranean Sea and the Garonne River, the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, or one of his foreign policy victories.
Local shell limestone, quarried in the vicinity of Montpellier, was used to build the arch. In addition to the medallions, the arch also bears the coat of arms of Montpellier and a dedication to the "sun" king. The Arch measures 15 meters in height and 18 meters in width. Its construction includes one central archway and two imitation arches to the left and right of it.
In Montpellier, the arch is located on the Peyroux esplanade, not the center of the city, but its most elevated place. The arch is adjoined by a square with another landmark dedicated to Louis XIV - his statue adorns the center of the square. One side of the arch overlooks rue Foch.

On St. Peter's Square in Montpellier rises the cathedral. It was originally the Gothic chapel of the monastery of Saints Benedict and Hermann, laid by Pope Urban in 1364 as a tribute to the city where he had studied, received a doctorate in canon law and taught himself. The architects Mance and Nugarol were the authors of the project; on February 14, 1367, the chapel was consecrated by Urban V.
The building of the cathedral was originally well fortified; at the end of the 16th century it was called "Fort St. Peter". There were four towers in the corners of the nave, one of which was destroyed by Protestants in 1567. One of the facades had battlements behind which was a passageway in the wall. The entrance to the cathedral was designed as a massive portico with two cylindrical columns and an arch connecting the pillars to the facade. These are the few elements of the cathedral's medieval architecture that have survived to this day.
In the 16th century, the interior of the cathedral was richly decorated. The cathedral has two sacristies in which many treasures were kept: books, church vestments, relics of saints and reliquaries for relics, sacred vessels and jewels. Among the paintings adorning the cathedral, the work of Sebastian Bourdon in the right transept The Fall of Simon the Magician (1657) is noteworthy; it tells about one of the legendary episodes of the life of St. Peter the Apostle: Simon the magician, popular in Jerusalem, offered money to Peter in exchange for the secret of his power. In Rome, Simon became a favorite of Emperor Nero and once challenged Peter and Paul to a duel. Peter performed a miracle in front of everyone - he brought a dead man back to life. The magician did not succeed, but he was able to fly up by pushing off the roof of the building, but when Peter began praying to free Simon from the dark forces, he fell from a height to the ground and died.
For a time the bishops' residence was the Medical Institute. Since 1906, the Cathedral is recognized as a monument of history and architecture, and today the Cathedral of St. Peter is returned to the clergy and is active. It is open to the public all year round.

We recommend staying overnight at the Hôtel du Parc, located in an 18th-century building, where each room is dedicated to a different artist.