Courtyard of Honor

Saint Peter's Cathedral: a university chapel turned fortress

The university building is closely linked to Saint-Pierre Cathedral, which was also built under the auspices of Urban V. Originally a university church, it became Montpellier's cathedral when the bishopric was transferred there in the early 16th century.
During the Wars of Religion, the cathedral suffered heavy damage. Protestants pillaged and ransacked it, leaving it in ruins for nearly a century. It was not until the 17th century that the bishops undertook its reconstruction, adding architectural elements such as new windows and floors.
Today, the cathedral retains its imposing character with a monumental porch, designed to impress and assert the power of the Church. Although this porch has no real defensive function, it adds to the building's military aura.
Anecdotes

Choretto / Cloister Gallery

Its four medieval bays are the remains of the old cloister that surrounded Saint Benoît College on two levels. It was dissected when the faculty was established after the Revolution, before being reallocated to the cathedral in 1823!

Observe the six architectural periods spanning six centuries.

• Occitan Gothic style: the courtyard walls and narrow windows topped with a trilobe (three semicircles) date back to^{the 14th} century, as does the oldest part of the cathedral (Saint Pierre Church, then the abbey church of Saint Benoît College) and its four square towers, one of which, the Urbain V tower, adjacent to the Faculty's assembly hall, remained intact after the Protestant siege in 1567. Above the roof of the assembly hall, which was rebuilt in the^17th century, alcoves corresponding to the former student rooms can be seen when standing on the outer steps of the theatrum, with the wing on Rue École de Médecine dedicated to the students who originally built the building.
• Neo-Gothic style: the cathedral's nave and rose window were built between 1855 and 1875! Note the change in color of the stones. The tiles are rather incongruous for the south of France, as they are glazed and more reminiscent of the architecture of the Hospices de Beaune!
• Neoclassical style: the theatrum anatomicum, begun in 1802 and inaugurated in 1806, could be imagined to pay homage to ancient Greek medicine!
• Classic style: the large rectangular Italian-style windows were carved out in^{the 18th century}, when the bishops renovated the building, which had been severely damaged during the Wars of Religion. The spirit of openness and light is evident when compared to the medieval windows, some of which remain at different levels, providing insight into the modifications made to the different floors.
• Recent additions: note the grand staircase built in the second half of^{the 19th century}, and a recent section built between the late^19th and early^{20th centuries}, at the left corner of the theatrum, at the junction with the west wing of the building, housing the laboratories of a brand new medical discipline emerging at that time: histology (the study of tissues, with its pathological version, pathological anatomy, or "anapath").