Montpellier continued

This morning I went on an organised tour of the private houses (Hotels Particuliers) in the old town of Montpellier.

Apparently, Montpellier is not as old as many of the towns around it, having no Roman history and being founded in the 10thC. During medieval times it was a major trading post, specialising in moneylending, dyeing and the spice trade. This was put in jeopardy by the Hundred Years War and the Black Death. Although there was some recovery, everything was again stopped by the wars of religion.

After the town had been resolutely re-Catholicised by Louis XIII, trade resumed and rich families built new houses on the foundations of the existing medieval ones – where they had survived the siege. They were not able to build outside the old city walls because Louis had built a fort facing (not protecting) the town in case they decided to become Protestant again.

19thC mansion with a range of exterior decoration.
External 17thC staircase boxed in in the 19thC.
17th and 18th C houses built along the lines of the mediaeval streets.
Some 13th and some 17th C architecture. Cat is resolutely 21stC.
Elegant 18thC staircase.
17thC staircase from below, again boxed in in the 19thC.
Horse hitching post.
13thC entrance to 18thC house with 21stC restaurant.
Following the tour I went to lunch.
And looked round the shops in the old town. I did see a violin maker’s workshop but wasn’t able to take a photo.

I then met Anne and went to the Musee Fabre. No photos but https://museefabre.montpellier3m.fr

4 thoughts on “Montpellier continued”

  1. I do like these narrow streets soaked in sun and shade…and lunch looks pretty good again. Did the city have anything of a medieval jewish community? Many of the places where mercantile trade flourished had jewish traders/bankers keeping the local nobility solvent.

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    Reply

      1. I Googled and they were central to the city in C11-C12, started a big medical school. They got thrown out, then invited back, then thrown out again…etc.

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