METROPOLIS IN PIXELS: MOUNTPELLIER, FRANCE

Montpellier, city, capital of Hérault département and second largest city in the Occitanie région, southern France, located 7 miles (12 km) from the Mediterranean coast. An old university city, Montpellier is the chief administrative and commercial centre of the Occitanie region. Situated in a fertile plain, the city has grown up around its old quarters, contained within boulevards on the site of the former city walls. It is famed for the terraced 17th- and 18th-century Promenade du Peyrou, which offers views of the Mediterranean and of the city’s elegant mansions. The Botanical Gardens, founded by Henry IV in 1593, are the oldest in France.