Random Shots of Montpellier
Having a few hours to spare this morning, I took a walk around Montpellier in the sunshine. I can tell you that the layout of the old part of the city, which hasn’t changed since mediaeval times, is a labyrinth in which it is very easy to get lost but if you’re not going anywhere in particular it’s fun wandering around. At night it’s very atmospheric too. Anyway, here are some random pics I took on the way. As you can see, the weather was lovely and you always get interesting shadows from the winter sun…
While I am on the blog, I thought I would mention one of Montpellier’s famous historical connections, Michel de Nostredame (1503-1566), more usually known as Nostradamus, who studied medicine at the University here for a while before he was expelled. I searched the Prophecies of Nostradamus which you can find online, and found no reference to my visit to Montpellier. Incidentally, the University of Montpellier was founded in 1220 so is one of the oldest universities in the world. La Tour de la Babotte was part of the fortifications of the old city and was later used for a time as an astronomical observatory.
P.S. the oldest remains in Montpellier are medieval. The Romans never settled here; the main settlement in the area was Maguelone, on the coast. The administrative centre of the region was moved to Montpellier, which is 10km inland, to avoid raids from pirates.
In the Dark 
November 25, 2023 at 9:43 pm
As I recall, the University of Bologna was the first university to be founded after the Dark Ages (a term that academics don’t like today, but what else would you call a time when literacy plummeted, the cities emptied out, distance trade plummeted and the population reverted to subsistence farming?)
Univ Bologna was founded in the 11th century to extract the juice of civilisation from a recently rediscovered copy of Justinian’s Digest of Roman Law from 500 years earlier. U Paris was founded from U Bologna, U Oxford was founded from U Paris, and [they finally got the ball over the line when] U Cambridge was founded from U Oxford.
Any of those buildings in the pics Roman?
November 26, 2023 at 7:54 am
Montpellier may not have the oldest University but may have a claim to be the first to offer degrees in Medicine. Bologna, when it started, was primarily for Law.
The Romans did not settle in Montpellier itself. The city dates from the early 12th Century. The oldest remains in the city are mediaeval. There are significant Roman remains in the general area though.
November 26, 2023 at 8:16 am
Surely Salerno was the first medical school?
November 26, 2023 at 8:36 am
Salerno had a medical school, but that’s all. It wasn’t a University in the modern sense. I shudder to think what was taught at these early medical institutions!
November 26, 2023 at 8:38 am
The Romans did cataract operations.
November 25, 2023 at 11:08 pm
La Maison des Chats looks very promising — I hope you went in to see the pensionnaires.