town of France, capital of the department of Herault, is situated on an eminence on the right bank of the Lez, 30 miles S.W. of Nimes, and 17 N.W. of Cete, the port of this town. It is irregularly built, with narrow, steep, but generally clean streets; and the houses are mostly well built. The public places are for the most part small in size and irregular in form; and the public buildings are unworthy of so large a town. The latter consist chiefly of a cathedral, with no pretensions to beauty or interest; an exchange, with a fine Corinthian colonnade; a court-house; a medical school, &c. Of the fortifications with which the town was once surrounded there are now few remains, except the citadel and some of the gates; the ancient ditches being now occupied by boulevards, which, along with the esplanade between the citadel and the town, and the Promenade de Peyrou, occupying the summit of the hill at the other end, serve as public walks for the recreation and amusement of the inhabitants. The last of these, which forms the chief attraction of the town, but is perhaps overpraised when it is regarded as one of the finest public walks in Europe, consists of shady avenues and neat parterres, adorned with fountains and pieces of sculpture. It is surrounded by balustrades, and has a fine Doric arch at its entrance, an equestrian statue of Louis XIV. in the centre, and a Corinthian building of hexagonal form, called the Chateau d'Eau, at its further extremity. This edifice forms the terminus of an aqueduct, about 5 miles in length, raised for the distance of 2896 feet upon a double tier of arches, which conveys water for the use of the town, and supplies the numerous fountains which adorn it in different places. Montpellier is distinguished for its school of medicine, which was founded in the twelfth century by the Arabs who were expelled from Spain. This institution, which now occupies the old episcopal palace, is celebrated as the place where Rabelais studied medicine and took the degree of doctor; and it now rivals in excellence and fame the medical school of Paris. It has large anatomical collections, and a library of 35,000 volumes and 600 MSS. The botanic garden of Montpellier, the earliest collection of the sort in France, was established in the reign of Henri IV.; and having been for some time under the superintendence of the celebrated De Candolle, who was professor of botany at Montpellier, it is now one of the best arranged in France. Montpellier has also several hospitals, which are both large and well managed. Among the other celebrities of the town must be noticed the collection of paintings contained in the Musee Fabre, an institution founded in 1825 by an artist of that name who was born here. It includes, besides the picture gallery, a library of 15,000 volumes, including those which once belonged to Alferi. The manufactures of Montpellier are considerable, and some of them, such as that of verdigris, which is obtained by placing plates of copper between grape husks, are carried on in few other places. There are, among other establishments, cotton and woollen factories, dye-works, paper-mills, distilleries, breweries, sugar-houses, and chemical works for the making of alum, Prussian blue, &c. An active and extensive trade is carried on with the port of Cette, and with the neighbouring towns and villages. The principal articles of export, besides the produce of the manufactures, are wine, oil, fruits, wool, and other rural produce. Montpellier enjoys a great reputation, especially in the north, as having a very temperate and healthy climate, and is frequently recommended as a residence for invalids; but though the heat is not so intense nor the air so close as at Marseilles, yet the temperature is very changeable, from the scorching glare of sunshine to the cold breezes of the mistral. The advantages of this town seem to have been exaggerated, both in respect of the salubrity of its climate and of the beauty and retirement of its situation. Towards the end of the eighth century, when the neighbouring city of Maguelonne embraced the side of the Saracens, and was in consequence destroyed by Charles Martel, Montpellier, which seems to have been formerly a small village, was first raised into the position of an important town, governed by hereditary lords under the bishops of Maguelonne. In the two following centuries the lords of Montpellier were not a little distinguished in the Crusades and other wars with the Infidels; while the town is represented as vying as a place of trade with the chief cities of that age. In 1202 the oc ship of Montpellier passed by inheritance to the family of Aragon, and afterwards to a younger branch of that family, who were also Kings of Majorca. It was purchased in 1350 by Philip VI. of France from James III. of Majorca, for 200,000 crowns of gold. It was conferred by Charles V. on Charles of Navarre, in exchange for certain other lordships; but in 1578 the possessions of that monarch were confiscated for high treason, and Montpellier returned into the possession of France. The town still remained, however, distinct from the rest of France in its language and customs; and all the Kings of France, till the time of Louis XI., had to visit it in person in order to secure its allegiance. At the Reformation a great number of the inhabitants embraced the side of the Huguenots. In 1622 the town was attacked by Louis XIII., and after a siege of two months, surrendered; after which event the citadel was built to keep the town in subjection. Montpellier was the birthplace of Cambaceres and Cambon, who played an important part in the first French revolution; of the historian Daru; of the chemist Chaptal; and of several other distinguished characters. Pop. (1851) 40,222.