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Montpellier has been teaching medicine since 1180, when the Guilhem dynasty authorised anyone, regardless of origin or religion, to practice medicine and teach it here. Petrarch studied law at the university in the 14th century. Rabelais studied medicine here in the 16th century. The medical school that resulted from that 1180 authorisation is now the oldest continuously operating medical school in the western world, and the university it anchored has made Montpellier one of the youngest cities in France: over 40% of the population are students, and the city has a corresponding energy that most French provincial cities of this size do not have.

The Ecusson, the medieval heart of the city enclosed by the shape of a shield that gives it the name, is one of the largest and best-preserved medieval quarters in France.

The Promenade du Peyrou, a 17th-century elevated terrace with a triumphal arch dedicated to Louis XIV at one end and an 18th-century aqueduct bringing water into the city at the other, offers the best views across the city and towards the Pic Saint-Loup and the Herault hills. Place de la Comedie, the main square, has the Opéra Comedie at one end and a mosaic-paved pedestrian precinct stretching the other way.