Castellane Market Hall

Neighborhood life in Montpellier gently rhymes with markets. This is beautifully showacesed here by the immense rectangular mass standing before you, or by everything that existed before it, if we go further back. Indeed, even in medieval times, you would find several types of businesses here where you could do your shopping. A grain market, a fruit and vegetable market, a fish market, a butcher shop – there was certainly plenty of choice. But in 1840, Jules Pagézy, the city’s mayor who planned a whole series of urban development works aimed at modernizing the historic center of Montpellier, disrupted this well-oiled organization. He took advantage of the widening of Rue Saint-Guilhem and the creation of Rue Impériale, now Rue Foch, to build a covered market. Jean Cassan, the architect in charge of the project, drew great inspiration from the work of his famous counterpart Victor Baltard, closely associated with Paris, to bring it to life. The first stone was laid on April 16, 1858, by Marshal Castellane, from whom the hall takes its name. The inauguration officially took place on February 20, 1859. In less than a year of construction, Montpellier offered its inhabitants a brand new commercial building, essentially composed of cast iron, iron, and zinc. Remodeled three times, with 2019 being the most recent renovation, the Castellane Hall still fulfills its main function as a traditional food market. On the ground floor, about twenty merchants satisfy regulars and wanderers every day of the week. The upper floor is shared among several commercial premises. Listed as a historic monument in 1999, the Castellane Hall is a place of history and habits dear to the people of Montpellier.