I have been in Montpellier for one month. It is hard to believe that it’s already been
that long, but at the same time, a part of me feels like it has been
longer. Tonight we had crepes after
dinner, which, for those of you who are unfamiliar, are like really thin
pancakes that you fill with all sorts of jams or sugar/butter or, my favorite, Nutella
and then roll up, heat in the microwave, and eat with a fork. They are fantastic and very delicious.
By popular request, I will use the following space to lay
out some details of Montpellier itself.
Founded sometime between 700 and 985 (when it is first
mentioned in a document), Montpellier is one of the few major cities in France
without any Roman origin, and one of the very few in the southern Mediterranean
region without any Greek influence. It
was built 10 kilometers (about six miles) from the sea due to pirate raids on
the coastal villages that were a menace of the time. The region in which it resides is called
Languedoc-Roussillon. The term “Languedoc”
comes from the phrase “Langue d’Oc”, or the language
of “oc,” which refers to the Occitan language, which is a regional language
which shares the same Latin roots as French, Spanish, and Italian. In the 1200s, it became an important trading
hub, being at a crossroads in the region where trade flowed among France,
Italy, and Spain. It is also situated on
what was once a major pilgrimage route to Spain. A commercial hub, the city also had a
reputation as being welcoming to all people: European Christians, Muslim Arabs
from the Middle East and Moors from Spain and North Africa, and the city had a
thriving Jewish community, which was very rare for Medieval Europe.
During this period of prominence, it built its medical
school, which is currently the oldest, continuously operating medical school in
the world, being founded in 1160. The
medical school was helped to excel because of the diverse inhabitants of the
city. There were several prominent Jewish
scholars who were able to read Latin, Hebrew, Greek, and Arab and thus were
able to translate many important ancient documents from their original language
into Latin, the scholarly language of the time.
During the Middle Ages, the world’s most advanced medicine was practiced
by the Arabs, who learned many methods foreign to Europe from their trade links
to China. Because of its large
population of residents from that part of the world, many of those advanced
Arabic medicinal texts were translated into Latin for the first time, bringing
Europe out of the “hey, I don’t know what’s wrong with him, so let’s throw some
leeches on him and drain out the bad blood, because it is probably an imbalance
of humors brought on by some witch’s hex” days.
Many famous people have studied at Montpellier’s universities, including
philosophers (and medical doctors) Rabelais and Nostradamus.
Like the rest of its region, a great deal of Montpellier’s
wealth is due to the wine industry.
Languedoc is historically associated with some of the highest quality
wine in the world and that industry has shaped the history and the economy of
the region. For this reason, my History of Languedoc-Roussillon course focuses
on the region’s ties to wine. Thus, wine
is an integral part of the diet and culture of the region. The French term for the wine industry,
growing, distilling, and selling is la viticulture. Nearly every open space outside of the city
is filled with vineyards, row upon row of grape vine. Near where I live, however, can be found some
olive groves. The olive was more of a
Montpellier product than elsewhere in Languedoc.
Due to its reputation as a center of learning and because of
its wine and commerce wealth, Montpellier was able to invest heavily in its
architecture. There is a clear
distinction between the old medieval city and the newer portion built in the
mid-to-late-1800s, as the newer portion was built in the style of Paris’s Haussmannian
renovations. Montpellier invested
heavily in its cultural development as well, hosting a grand opera (whose
foundations were laid outside of the old city walls due to the prevalence of
opera fires). Current orchestral and
opera events are divided between the old opera house and the newer opera in the
Corum building on the end of the Esplanade,
the long, scenic route encompassing the Place
des Trois Grâces and a beautiful park.
The city is also home to the Musée Fabre, host to many rare paintings,
established by Montpellier native François-Xavier Fabre, who was one of the pupils
of the famous David.
During the wars of religion, Montpellier was a major
Protestant stronghold, finally being taken by siege by King Louis XIII in 1622. Sadly, during the fighting most of the cities
ancient cathedrals were destroyed. The
Catholics would destroy a Protestant church, who would respond by destroying a
Catholic church, who would then revenge themselves upon a Protestant church,
and so on and so forth. Today, the areas
were the foundations of the churches and cathedrals used to lie have been
converted into small verdant squares (places)
and contribute to the city’s greenery while commemorative plaques and statues
mark the history of missing structure.
As I have mentioned before, the ancient ceremonial Jewish bath, the mikvé,
survived the wars for religion due in part to it being a completely subterranean
structure carved into the living rock of the hill into which it was dug.
Today the wine industry remains important to Montpellier,
but the town is also considered to be somewhat of a college town. In addition to the ancient medical school,
there are two other universities associated with it today: a school of hard
sciences and Paul Valéry (where I attend), a liberal arts school. There
are also growing industries which attract many workers from France as well as
immigrants from North Africa. The city’s
population was bolstered after the Algerian War for Independence, when many of
the French citizens living there returned to the mainland and settled in the
south. Today it is the eighth largest
city in France and has been the fastest growing city in France for over
twenty-five years. The new construction
policy for the past several mayoral administrations has been the phrase “to the
sea!” The city is slowly marching ever
closer to the Mediteranean, and there have been efforts to shift the concept of
the “city’s center” in the same direction.
The new neo-Hellenic Antigone district, of which I have spoken, was part
of that attempt. The city’s Prefecture,
seat of the representative of the French government, is in the city’s old medieval
district, but the city’s hôtel-de-ville
(city government office) is in the new Antigone district. Montpellier has also united with several
neighboring villages to form the Montpellier Agglomeration. Composed of 31 communes (neighboring
villages, suburbs, or other forms of satellite communities), the members pool
their collective resources in order to fund opportunities that none of them
could afford alone. This includes the
expansive bus network and the four tramlines that run from outlying communities
through the center of Montpellier proper.
While many people drive to work in the city (primarily using stick-shift
vehicles), a very large proportion of workers, students, and university
students commute using the public transit system. It is very convenient and is relatively
low-cost to young people, those under the age of 26 can purchase a 31 day pass
for 35 Euro (I just renewed mine today).
Well, that is most of what I have to say. If you have any more questions about the
city, feel free to post a comment here on the blog or on my Facebook page and I’ll
be sure to answer it next time.
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