261 articles
Millau
Millau (Aveyron, Occitanie, France), commune of about 22,000 inhabitants at the Tarn-Dourbie confluence; known for the Graufesenque Gallo-Roman pottery site, glove-making heritage, and the Millau Viaduct completed in 2004.
Monségur
Monségur (Montsegur in Gascon) is a bastide commune in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, founded by Eléonore de Provence in the 1260s on the Dropt river; distinct from Montségur in Ariège and from a namesake in Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Mont-Saint-Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel: tidal island commune in Normandy's Manche department with a Gothic Benedictine abbey founded in 966, UNESCO-listed in 1979, Europe's highest tides up to 15 m, managed solely by the EPIC since 2026.
Montagny
Montagny (from Latin Montaniacum, estate of Montanius) names several communes in France and Switzerland: Montagny FR with its 1146 castle and Roman aqueduct, Montagny-près-Yverdon VD, Montagny-Chancy GE, and French villages near Lyon, Beaune, and the Chalonnais wine area.
Montalieu
Montalieu usually means Montalieu-Vercieu, a commune in Isère, France, on the Rhône; a historic quarrying and Vicat cement center known as 'le pays de la pierre', with the Vallée Bleue leisure base and Maison de la Pierre et du Ciment.
Montauban
Montauban, prefecture of Tarn-et-Garonne in Occitanie, France; a 1144 bastide on the Tarn, former Huguenot stronghold besieged in 1621, home of the Ingres Bourdelle Museum, population 62,945 in 2023.
Montmirat
Montmirat is the name of a commune in the Gard department of southern France, west of Nîmes, and of a former silver-lead mine and mountain pass in neighboring Lozère.
Montoulieu-Saint-Bernard
Montoulieu-Saint-Bernard, a commune of about 230 people in Haute-Garonne, Occitanie, near Aurignac; INSEE 31386. Known for Gallo-Roman baths at Pélet, discovered in 1957, classified monument historique in 1960.
Montpellier
Montpellier, Occitanie, France: seventh-largest French city (307,101 inhabitants), medieval university city with Europe's oldest operating medical school (1220), 80,000 students, free resident public transport since 2023, five tram lines.
Montreuil-Bellay
Montreuil-Bellay, a commune in Maine-et-Loire, France, on the Thouet: château founded by Foulques Nerra around 1025, Prieuré des Nobis (1097), collégiale Notre-Dame, Roman coin hoard, and a WWII internment camp.
Montrodat
Montrodat (originally Montroca, Monte Rocato) is a Lozère commune near Marvejols, France; a viscountal domain and one of the twelve seigneuries of Gévaudan, first mentioned in 1091, with a Romanesque castle chapel and the Poujoulat dolmens.
Montverdun
Montverdun, Loire commune in the plaine du Forez, France, with a priory founded around 1010 on a basaltic pic, Neolithic to Gallo-Roman archaeology, and a site in Honoré d'Urfé's Astrée.
Mornat
Mornat is a hamlet in Saint-Pardoux-les-Cards, Creuse, France (46.0966 N, 2.0932 E), also an ancient Roman Gaul site (BAtlas 14 H2) and the site of a silver-lead mine conceded by royal ordinance in 1824.
Moulis
Moulis: name of communes in southwest France, chiefly Moulis (Ariège, Couserans, on the Lez, CNRS cave lab with Proteus, Luzenac Gallo-Roman pile) and Moulis-en-Médoc (Gironde wine commune, Saint-Saturnin church); also a Reyniès lieu-dit.
Mulhouse
Mulhouse (Mülhausen) is a city in the Alsace region of northeastern France, the largest city of Haut-Rhin with about 113,000 inhabitants, near the Swiss and German borders.
Murato
Murato (Muratu) is a commune and canton chief town in the Nebbio region of northern Corsica, on the Bevinco river, with 577 inhabitants (2019). Known for the 12th-century Pisan Romanesque church of San Michele at the Ptolemy-recorded Lourinion site.
Nancy, France
Nancy, France: prefecture of Meurthe-et-Moselle and historic capital of Lorraine, population 103,671 (2023). Known for the UNESCO-listed Place Stanislas ensemble (1983), Art Nouveau heritage, and Grand Nancy metropolis.
Nanterre
Nanterre, prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department west of Paris, France; about 97,800 inhabitants, home of Université Paris Nanterre, the Sainte-Geneviève cathedral, and the birthplace of the 1968 movement, bordering La Défense.
Nantes
Nantes, Loire-Atlantique prefecture on the Loire in western France, historical capital of Brittany now in Pays de la Loire; 327,734 inhabitants (2023), former French slave-trade capital, shipbuilding-turned-services economy, tram network and Île de Nantes renewal.
Nanteuil-sur-Aisne
Nanteuil-sur-Aisne, an Ardennes commune (INSEE 08313, 150 inhabitants in 2023) near Rethel, is known for the Gaulish and Gallo-Roman sanctuary of Népellier, 1.5 km from Acy-Romance, with weapon deposits, votive wheels, and occupation to the 4th century.
Narbonne
Narbonne (Narbo Martius), Aude, Occitanie: Rome's first colony in Gaul (118 BC) and once a major port, now a growing commune of about 57,600 known for wine, the Canal de la Robine and Roman and Gothic heritage.
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine, a wealthy Hauts-de-Seine commune on the Seine's right bank between Étoile and La Défense; 59,538 inhabitants in 2023, commune since 1790, renamed by 1897 decree, known for the fête à Neu-Neu and garden quarters.
Nice
Nice (Niça), fifth-largest city of France on the Mediterranean Côte d'Azur, ceded to France in 1860, UNESCO-listed in 2021 for its winter-resort districts, Promenade des Anglais, and 7 km of pebble beaches.
Nîmes
Nîmes (Nemausus), city of over 150,000 in Gard, Occitanie, France, famed for Roman monuments: Maison Carrée (UNESCO 2023), amphitheater, Tour Magne; Latin colony from 44 BC.
Nistos
Nistos is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in Occitanie, southwestern France, in the Pyrenean foothills near the Neste and Barousse valleys, promoted for heritage and outdoor tourism.
Nouans-les-Fontaines
Nouans-les-Fontaines (INSEE 37173) is a rural commune in Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, near Loches, with 672 inhabitants in 2023, declining population, and the Saint-Martin church holding a Jean Fouquet Pietà.
Oisseau-Le-Petit
Oisseau-Le-Petit, a Sarthe commune in France, preserves a restored Gallo-Roman fanum at Les Busses, a small Roman agglomeration with baths, theatre, and villa, and an 1865 hoard of 110 Iron Age gold coins.
Orléans
Orléans, capital of France's Centre-Val de Loire region on the Loire river, 120 km from Paris; about 116,000 inhabitants. Known for the 1429 siege relieved by Joan of Arc and the UNESCO Loire Valley.
Ouarville
Ouarville is a commune in the canton of Voves, Eure et Loir, France, with 548 inhabitants. Located in the Beauce plain southeast of Chartres, it has a rich recorded history.
Ouistreham
Ouistreham (Riva-Bella) is a Calvados commune in Normandy at the Orne mouth, port of Caen and French terminus of the Portsmouth ferry; 9,212 inhabitants (2023), fishing port, seaside resort, coastal-flood risk management.