Montréal (; historically, Montréal-du-Gers; Gascon: ''Montrejau de Gers'') is a commune in the

Gers Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...

department in southwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is a member of

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (, ) is an independent association created in 1982 for the promotion of the tourist appeal of small rural villages with a rich cultural heritage. As of 2024, it numbers 176 member villages (independent Communes of France, ''communes'' or part ...

(The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association.

Geography

The commune is situated in the Gers but close to the borders with

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, ) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.Landes. It is built on a promontory on the right bank of the river

Auzoue The Auzoue () is a long river in the Gers and Lot-et-Garonne'' départements'', southwestern France. Its source is at Bassoues. It flows generally north. It is a right tributary of the Gélise into which it flows at Mézin. ''Départements'' ...

Population

The inhabitants are called ''Montréalais''.

Sights

In the neighbourhood are numerous old castles, medieval walled villages, small towns built around castles and many "sacred" places because the

Via Podiensis The Via Podiensis or the Le Puy Route is one of the four routes through France on the pilgrimage to the tomb of James, son of Zebedee, St. James the Great in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia (Spain), Galicia in northwest Spain. It leaves from Le-P ...

and the Way of St. James of Compostela which pass through Montréal. * In the village ** The

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century B ...

villa at Séviac. ** The

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

bastide. * In the surroundings ** The

bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the 13th and 14th centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the first bastides ...

of Bretagne-d'Armagnac. ** The Bastide Gasconne of Fourcès. ** The city of

Eauze Eauze (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Eusa'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gers Departments of France, department in southwestern France. History Located in the heart of south-west France, 130 kilometers from the Spanish border, Eauze i ...

and its Roman treasure. ** The fortified village of Larressingle. ** The museum of

D'Artagnan Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the Fr ...

Lupiac Lupiac () is a Communes of France, commune in the Gers Departments of France, department in southwestern France. Geography The Auzoue forms most of the commune's southeastern border. The Douze forms the commune's western border. Population ...

. ** The Spa of Barbotan-les-Thermes in

Cazaubon Cazaubon (; Gascon: ''Casaubon'') is a commune in the Gers department of southwestern France. Besides the town of Cazaubon itself, the commune includes the adjacent spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a develop ...

. ** The

paleontological Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

site discovered in 1987 near Béon hamlet (on the D113 road toward Gondrin, south-east of the village), of international interest''Sansan - Musées, sites et collections paléontologiques''
Dans ''La lettre de l'OCIM'', mai - juin 2013. - 4 previously unknown species have been discovered there, and a skull from a

Palaeomeryx ''Palaeomeryx'' is an extinct genus of Artiodactyla, of the family Palaeomerycidae, endemic to Europe and Asia from the Miocene epoch, 16.9 – 7.25 Annum, Ma, existing for approximately . Taxonomy ''Palaeomeryx'' was named by von Meyer (1 ...

among many other animal parts.''Découverte touristique de Montréal-du-Gers''
sur ''sejour-touristique.com''.

International relations

Montréal is twinned with

Wittisheim Wittisheim () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The com ...

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...

References

Official website of Montréal
Communes of Gers Plus Beaux Villages de France {{Gers-geo-stub