City Info
France | Montpellier

Montpellier is a city in the south of France. It is the capital of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, as well as the Hérault department. The city is situated on hilly ground 10 km (6 miles) inland from the Mediterranean coast 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). The estimated population of the metropolitan area is 533,000.

Take a walk on the Esplanade one day when the weather is nice, (most of the time). Lined with trees, benches, a couple of outdoor restaurants, and often the tents of a market selling clothing and food, the Esplanade is a lovely place to spend the afternoon. If you like to haggle and want a different experience, there is an enormous flea market every Sunday morning. Take the blue line tram all the way to the last stop at Mosson, and then just follow the crowd of people. The market sells just about everything under the sun, including brand-name clothing, movies (mostly pirated), and the usual assortment of household odds and ends. Haggling is the norm but the prices are generally reasonable to start with. The market (marche aux puces) is particularly well-known as a place to buy bicycles. There are many independent bookstores that are a real treasure for the city and offer a wide variety of topics and languages.

The Festival de Radio France et Montpellier is a summer festival of opera and music held in Montpellier. The music festival concentrates on classical music and jazz with about 100 events, including opera, concerts, films, and talks. Most of these events are free and are held in the historic courtyards of the city or the modern concert halls of Le Corum. Le Corum cultural and conference centre contains 3 auditoriums.

At the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, many of the inhabitants of Montpellier became Protestants (or Huguenots as they were known in France) and the city became a stronghold of Protestant resistance to the Catholic French crown. In 1622, King Louis XIII besieged the city and took it after eight months, building the Citadel of Montpellier to secure it. Louis XIV made Montpellier capital of Bas Languedoc, and the town started to embellish itself, by building the Promenade du Peyrou, the Esplanade and a large number of houses in the historic centre. After the French Revolution, the city became the capital of Hérault.

During the 19th century the city developed into an industrial centre. In the 1960s, its population grew dramatically after French settlers in Algeria were resettled in the city following Algeria's independence from France. In the 1980s and 1990s, the city drew attention with a number of major redevelopment projects, such as the Corum and especially the Antigone District. 

As you can see there are many opportunities for internships-4U to arrange an internship for you in Montpellier.