Montpellier

A Short Tour of Béziers & the Region ( page 15 of 22 )

Montpellier's Triumphant Arch (l'Arc de Triomphe) with the Water Tower (Château d'Eau) in the distance

..... Montpellier

which is the county town of the Hérault ("Le Préfecture de la département de l'Hérault) in the Languedoc region of France, and a very beautiful University town.

At the end of the 17th century, the King's intendant decided to erect this triumphal arch, a copy of the gates of Paris, in honour of Louis XIV (The Sun King / Le Roi Soleil), built where one of the gates of the ancient ramparts used to be.

Place de la Comedie

Detail of the Water Tower in Montpellier (Château d'Eau). Created at the same time as the aqueduct in the 18th century, the water tower held the city's water
reserves. Originally St Anne's Church, now a Museum of Contempory Art known as Carre St Anne Babote Tower, One of the two remaining towers of the commune cloture fortification built in the 14th century, the Tour de la Babote was renovated in the 18th century to house the
astronomy observatory of the Academy of Science. Peyrou Royal Square, Place Royal du Peyrou, it provides the setting for the mounted
statue of Louis XIV, forming a remarkable group of monuments, with the Arc de Triomphe, Water tower and Saint-Clément aqueduct.

Place de la Comedie, The must-see place in Montpellier! This oval-shaped plaza, dominated by the Comédie opera house, is one of the largest pedestrian areas in Europe.