Montpellier is one of the best cities in Southern France. Even though you haven’t heard of the place (which is unlikely), you’ll just end up in this place as well. There are so many reasons that this place can offer you and you don’t even know where to start. But let me guide you to one place that can be considered as the “special project” of the people and government of Montpellier. From what seemed to be an impossible feat, they made it happen and now, you will miss more than half of your Montpellier experience if you haven’t been in this place. It’s one of the districts of Montpellier and its called Antigone – named after the heroine of the Greek tragedy.
Coming in to this place, you’ll think that you have been transported to a turn of the century structures with the almost old but not that old structure. However, all of the structures that you see in this district were only built in 1979. In 1979, Montpellier was given lands that were mostly old houses. They could be really old but these structures don’t have any historical value at all. What they did was to blast off all of these and remove all the rubble and start all over again.
The best move of this project was to hire a good architect and apparently, they did. Ricardo Bofill an architect from Catalonia was hired to design the district. For a district you would think that an architect would need the help of another person to design all of these things. You can say that he just had a lot of time in his hands to design all of these things or he’s just a genius in his own right. Once you enter the district, you’ll be seeing the things that one architect did to this district. There are a total of four buildings that he has designed in this district. Among them is the Place de Nombre d'Or. This square has a structure that almost oversees all of the structures of the place.
With all the things that you’ll be seeing, don’t think that you’re just there to look at the buildings that were built within the 20 year period. Because of the constructions and great architectural design, it was decided that near the district will be another housing area for the locals. The housing area is not just another expensive subdivision but a low cost housing that will attract middle income families. From the creation of the houses, and the sheer population of the district, shopping centers and entertainment zones were build in the Antigone District. If you are to go there, be sure to visit the Antigone district with the shops and the night life as well.
Clearly this is one of the places in Montpellier that you shouldn’t miss. There are so many things that you should be able to experience there. From the historic part of the Montpellier to the fun side in Antigone District, you already have a perfect package for fun.