Photo spot 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.
About Place de la Comédie and the Écusson
Get directionsPlace de la Comédie is the city's living room: a huge pedestrian square of pale stone, the nineteenth-century opera house at one end, the Three Graces fountain in the middle and café terraces all round. It photographs best when it is empty, in the first hour of the morning, with the low sun raking across the façades.
A few steps away, the Écusson begins — the medieval core, a tangle of narrow lanes in honey-coloured stone. Rue de l'Ancien Courrier and the streets around the cathedral are the most beautiful, and many of the old mansions hide courtyards with open stone staircases behind their doors.
The lanes stay in shade for most of the day, which makes them the place for soft, even portraits when the square is in hard sun.
Best time to shoot
The first hour of the morning on the square; the lanes at any time
Tips
Start on the empty square at sunrise, then move into the lanes as the sun climbs. Courtyards behind open doors are private — ask before stepping in.
Other spots in Montpellier
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.
Antigone and the river Lez
Ricardo Bofill's neoclassical district: colonnades, symmetrical squares and a monumental axis that walks down to the river.
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 Place de la Comédie and the Écusson — free of charge.
