Siege of Montpellier

Montpellier (UK: , US: , French: [mɔ̃pəlje, -pɛl-] (listen); Occitan: Montpelhièr [mumpeˈʎɛ]) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. At the 2020 census, 299,096 people lived in the city proper, while its metropolitan area had a population of 813,272. The inhabitants are called Montpelliérains. In the Middle Ages, Montpellier was an important city of the Crown of Aragon (and was the birthplace of James I), and then of Majorca, before its sale to France in 1349. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the world and oldest medical school still in operation, with notable alumni such as Petrarch, Nostradamus and François Rabelais. Above the medieval city, the ancient citadel of Montpellier is a stronghold built in the seventeenth century by Louis XIII of France. Since the 1990s, Montpellier has experienced one of the strongest economic and demographic growth in the country. Its urban area has experienced the highest population growth in France since the year 2000. Numbering 70,000, students comprise nearly one-fourth of its population, one of the highest such proportions in Europe. Its living environment with one of Europe's largest pedestrian area, along with its rich cultural life and Mediterranean climate, explain the enthusiasm for the city, which is nicknamed the "Gifted". Montpellier was nominated for "Best Emerging Culture City of the Year 2017" by the think tank LCD. It is ranked as a Sufficiency city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

The Montpellier Zoological Park (formally Parc Zoologique de Lunaret) is a French zoological park located in the region Occitanie, in the north of the city of Montpellier. The greenhouse opened in 2007 as part of the Montpellier Zoo with a footprint of about 2,600 m2. It represents 7 climatic zones and habitats, with a large aviary, and with an artificial rainstorm every two hours to simulate the rainforest environment. The greenhouse now contains more than 500 animals and 8,000 plants representing 300 species. Its animal collection includes anacondas, ants, anteaters, armadillos, bats, boas, caymans, ibises, ocelots, piranhas, tamarins, and tarantulas. The plant collections include 34 species of palm trees, 15 species of tree ferns, and 95 types of trees, with plants of interest including Acrosticum aureum, Anthurium ferrierense, Canna indica, Cattleya bicolor, Cattleya mossiae, Cephaelis poeppigiana, Costus cuspidatus, Heliconia angusta, Hibiscus elatus, Philodendron elegans, Philodendron panduriforme, Polypodium polypodioides, Tillandsia cyanea, Vriesea carinata, and Xanthosoma violaceum.

The original church of Notre Dame des Tables (also called Dama des Taoulas, whose name it received from the money-changing merchants of 12th century Montpellier) rested at the heart of the old village of Montpellier, in the current Occitanie région of France. It was consecrated by Bishop Ricuin circa 817. It was destroyed at the end of the 16th century as a result of the French wars of religion, and later became a stopping point for pilgrims to pray at on their way to Santiago de Compostela. Now, in its crypt — a remainder from the previous church — lies an exhibition about the history of Montpellier. The Hotel de Varennes in Montpellier houses sacred chapters of the baroque church.

The Libre Software Meeting (LSM) is an annual free software event originally held in France. The French name of this event is Rencontres mondiales du logiciel libre (RMLL).

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Montpellier (–Lodève–Béziers–Agde–Saint-Pons-de-Thomières) (Latin: Archidioecesis Metropolitae Montis Pessulani (–Lotevensis–Biterrensis–Agathensis–Sancti Pontii Thomeriarum); French: Archidiocèse Metropolitain de Montpellier (–Lodève–Béziers–Agde–Saint-Pons-de-Thomières)) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in south-western France. It was probably created in the 3rd century AD. The current metropolitan archbishop is Pierre-Marie Carré; the immediate past Archbishop Emeritus is Guy Marie Alexandre Thomazeau. On September 16, 2002, as part of the reshuffling of the map of the French ecclesiastical provinces, the diocese of Montpellier (Lodève, Béziers, Agde, and Saint-Pons-de-Thomières) ceased to be a suffragan of Avignon and was elevated to archdiocese and metropolitan of a new ecclesiastical province, with the dioceses of Carcassonne, Mende, Nimes (Uzès and Alès) and Perpignan–Elne as suffragans.

The Musée Fabre is a museum in the southern French city of Montpellier, capital of the Hérault département. The museum was founded by François-Xavier Fabre, a Montpellier painter, in 1825. Beginning in 2003, the museum underwent a 61.2 million euro renovation, which was completed in January 2007. It is one of the main sights of Montpellier and close to the city's main square, the Place de la Comédie. The museum's national importance is recognised by it being classified as a Musée de France by the French Ministry of Culture.

Montpellier Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Montpellier) is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Peter and located in the city of Montpellier, France. It is the seat of the Archbishops of Montpellier. The cathedral, built in the Gothic style, is a national monument.

The canton of Montpellier-3 is an administrative division of the Hérault department, southern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Montpellier.

The Place de la Comédie is square in Montpellier, Hérault in Southern France. It is at the southeast point of the city centre, at 43°36′31.19″N 3°52′47.63″E, where the fortifications of the city were formerly located.

The Porte du Peyrou is a triumphal arch in Montpellier, in southern France. It is situated at the eastern end of the Jardin de Peyrou, a park near the center of the city. The arch was designed by François Dorbay, after the model of the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris. Its construction was completed in 1693. Its rusticated surface is crowned by a Doric entablature, suitable to a martial monument. Its later panels in bas-relief and inscriptions glorifying King Louis XIV of France were added in 1715. These reliefs show four major events from the reign of Louis XIV, rendered as allegories: the capture of Namur during the War of the Grand Alliance, in which the figure representing the Dutch Republic kneels before Louis XIV Louis in the figure of Hercules being crowned by Victory the digging of the Canal du Midi that links the Bay of Biscay with the Mediterranean Sea the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Montpellier as seen from the Porte du Peyrou.

Montpellier's Corum is a building that houses both a conference centre and an opera house (Opéra Berlioz), and is located in the centre of the city in southern France. It was designed by Claude Vasconi and opened to the public in 1988. The building forms the visual closing of the Esplanade seen from the Place de la Comédie. It is covered in slabs of pink marble. The high costs of the building were subject of political debate in the 1980s, mostly directed against then-mayor Georges Frêche. The Conference Center has 6000 m² of exhibition space. The Opéra Berlioz, named after Hector Berlioz, seats 2000 persons, and since 1990 has been one of the performance venues for the Opéra National de Montpellier.

The arrondissement of Montpellier is an arrondissement of France. It is part of the Hérault département. Its INSEE code is 343 and its capital city, and prefecture of the department, is Montpellier. It has 67 communes. Its population is 683,935 (2016), and its area is 1,004.8 km2 (388.0 sq mi).The main cities in the arrondissement, with more than 20,000 inhabitants in 2019, are Montpellier (295,542 inhabitants), Sète (43,858 inhabitants), Lunel (26,385 inhabitants), Frontignan (23,028 inhabitants) and Castelnau-le-Lez (22,534 inhabitants).