Photo spot in Montpellier
Antigone and the river Lez
Ricardo Bofill's neoclassical district: colonnades, symmetrical squares and a monumental axis that walks down to the river.
About Antigone and the river Lez
Get directionsAntigone was built in the 1980s to a design by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill, and it looks like nothing else in the city: a kilometre-long axis of pale neoclassical façades, colonnades, pediments and fountains, opening into a sequence of symmetrical squares — the round Place du Nombre d'Or, then the long Place du Millénaire — before stepping down to the river Lez.
The repetition is the point. Columns and arches line up into deep perspectives that frame a couple or a single portrait like a stage set, and the scale makes people look elegant rather than lost.
The stone is very bright, so midday is harsh here; go in the morning or the late afternoon, when the colonnades throw long shadows, and finish by the water at the Esplanade de l'Europe.
Best time to shoot
Morning or late afternoon, when the colonnades throw long shadows
Tips
Use the symmetry: stand your subjects on the central axis and let the colonnades converge behind them. It is a residential district, so keep the group small and the kit light.
Other spots in Montpellier
Place de la Comédie and the Écusson
A vast pale square in front of the opera house, and behind it a maze of stone lanes and hidden courtyards.
The Promenade du Peyrou and the Arc de Triomphe
A royal terrace with Louis XIV on horseback, a temple-like water tower and an aqueduct running away from it.
The dunes of the Grand Travers
A wild Mediterranean beach between Carnon and La Grande-Motte, with dunes instead of buildings behind the sand.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know Antigone and the river Lez — free of charge.
