Property assets
Faculty of Medicine
Montpellier is world-renowned for its medical teaching. A reputation that the city owes to its faculty, founded in 1220: the oldest surviving medical school in the Western world.
Since 1795, the Faculty of Medicine has occupied one of Montpellier's most beautiful buildings: the former episcopal palace, formerly the Saint Benoit-Saint Germain monastery. A place steeped in history, brought to life today by hundreds of students...
The building itself is an architectural treasure trove, with its monumental hall, ceremonial rooms, courtyard of honor and anatomy amphitheater. It was listed as a Monument Historique in 2004.
Faculty of Law
Since 1959, the Faculty of Law and Political Science has been housed in the former Convent of the Visitation. Built in 1631 under the reign of Louis XIII, this building is part of the rich heritage of Montpellier's historic center. Along with the Ursuline Convent, it is the only building in the city to retain its cloister and chapel in their entirety. These vestiges of its original ecclesiastical vocation bear witness to the intense religious activity that took place around Saint-Pierre Cathedral from the late Middle Ages to the 18th century.
Once past the vast "Aula Placentinea" - the large hall you enter through the faculty's main entrance - you're immediately in the 17th-century cloister. Cross-vaulted, the cloister offers a sober, uncluttered elegance.
The legal history library contains rare and precious early volumes, largely devoted to Roman learned law, of which the faculty was one of the jewels in the crown in the Middle Ages.
Triolet Campus
In 1964, Montpellier's Faculty of Sciences moved from the buildings on rue de l'Université (where the current rectorate stands) to the new university campus on place Eugène Bataillon. The move was part of the Fifth Republic's drive to develop research and provide higher education institutions with modern facilities capable of accommodating growing numbers of students.
The Ministry of Education chose René Egger as technical advisor for its construction program. His firm drew up typical plans for French scientific universities, but left it up to local architects to adapt them.
In Montpellier, architect Philippe Jaulmes chose an airy, wooded site with buildings adapted to Mediterranean light. He also commissioned works as part of the 1% artistic program* from young artists who are now world-renowned: Pierre Parsus, François Rouan, Victor Vasarely and his son Yvaral, Albert Dupin and Yaacov Agam. The work was completed in 1967.
* Initiated in 1951, this legal provision institutes the creation of works by contemporary visual artists associated with public architectural creations. Since its inception, the 1% artistic contribution has financed some 12,300 works.
Institute of Botany
In the heart of Montpellier, the Institut de Botanique is the guardian of the city's plant garden, the oldest in France. As early as 1889, Charles Flahault, a renowned botanist and director of the institute, oversaw the construction of the buildings. The premises were inaugurated in April 1890 and visited in May by Sadi Carnot, President of the French Republic, on the occasion of the university's 6th centenary. After 50 years in operation, the building was renovated and enlarged, and inaugurated in 1959.
The Institut de Botanique enabled Charles Flahault to bring together all of Montpellier's herbariums in a single location. Today, it houses a treasure trove within its venerable walls: the prestigious Montpellier Herbarium, the 2nd largest herbarium in France after that of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in terms of the volume and quality of its collections. Both a research and heritage tool, the Montpellier herbarium contains some 3.5 million plant samples.
Sète marine biology station
At the end of the 19th century, the Sète coastline was considered an extremely rich zoological complex. To simplify weekly zoological excursions and facilitate research, zoology professor Armand Sabatier decided to found a marine biology station here.
In 1879, the town of Sète provided him with modest premises. Shortly afterwards, he obtained a plot of land on the shore of the Etang de Thau for the construction of the zoological station. Inaugurated in 1896, it included all the services essential for research and teaching.
With its rich collections in a zoological museum, including numerous ichthyological (fish) and conchyliological (shell mollusc) samples, the Sète marine biology station acquired international renown and influence. After a century of existence and major building renovations, it remains an active center of scientific research.
