Metz is a city in the northeast of
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.
Metz is the capital of the
LorraineLorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
region and
prefectureA prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
of the
MoselleMoselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and
LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Metz forms a central place of the European
Greater RegionThe Greater Region is a term used to describe the area of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Wallonia, the French Community of Belgium and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. It is not identical with the SaarLorLux Euregio, being in the same territory.It is situated between...
and of the
SaarLorLuxSaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux, , a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, is a Euroregion of five different regional authorities located in four different European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of several of these authorities or of their subdivisions, administrations,...
EuroregionEUREGIO is a cross-border region between the Netherlands and Germany. It was founded in 1958 and is organized as an Eingetragener Verein. Participating communities are in Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany and parts of the Dutch provinces Gelderland, Overijssel and Drenthe...
. So, Metz is a fellow member of the QuattroPole union of cities, along with
Luxembourg CityThe city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...
and German
SaarbrückenSaarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
and
TrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
.
A Celtic
oppidumOppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...
, an important Gallo-Roman city, the Merovingian capital of the
Austrasia kingdomAustrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...
, the birthplace of the Carolingian dynasty, a cradle of the
Gregorian chantGregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
, and one of the oldest republics of the
common eraCommon Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
in Europe, Metz has a rich 3,000 year history. The city has been steeped in
RomanceThe Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
culture, but has been strongly influenced by
Germanic cultureGerman culture began long before the rise of Germany as a nation-state and spanned the entire German-speaking world. From its roots, culture in Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular...
due to its location and history. A basin of
urban ecologyUrban ecology is a subfield of ecology which deals with the interaction between organisms in an urban or urbanized community, and their interaction with that community. Urban ecologists study the trees, rivers, wildlife and open spaces found in cities to understand the extent of those resources and...
, pioneered under the leadership of people like
Jean-Marie PeltProfessor Jean-Marie Pelt is a French botanist.Pelt founded the European Institute of Ecology in 1972. He is the author of several books and produced several television series for French TV.-Bibliography:...
, Metz gained its nickname, The Green City, boasting over 37 m
2 (398 sq ft) of open ground per inhabitant and the city's historic downtown also displays one of the largest commercial, pedestrian areas in France.
Metz possesses one of the largest urban-conservation area in France covering 162.9 ha (402.53 acre) and around 100 buildings of the city are classified on the
monument historiqueA monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
list. Because of its tremendous historical and cultural background, Metz benefits from its designation as a
town of art and historySince 1985, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication has pursued a policy of preserving and promoting France's heritage. Historic towns and districts have been designated Villes et Pays d'Art et d'Histoire ....
. The city is home to some world-class venues such as the
Arsenal concert hallThe Arsenal is a cultural venue dedicated specially to Classical and Erudite musics and located near the Esplanade garden in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France...
, the Centre Pompidou-Metz museum, and the
National Opera of LorraineThe Opéra-Théatre de Metz Métropole is an 750-seat opera house and theatre located on the Petit-Saulcy island in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France. It is the oldest opera house working in France and one of the oldest in Europe...
(along with
Nancy OperaOpéra national de Lorraine is an opera company and opera house located in the city of Nancy in the French province of Lorraine. Formerly named the Opéra de Nancy et de Lorraine, it was given the status of "national opera" in 2006....
).
A historical
GarrisonGarrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
town, Metz is the economic heart of the
LorraineLorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
region, being specialized in
information technologyInformation technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and
automotiveThe automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
industries. Metz is also a centre for applied research and development in the materials sector notably in
metallurgyMetallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
and
metallographyMetallography is the study of the physical structure and components of metals, typically using microscopy.Ceramic and polymeric materials may also be prepared using metallographic techniques, hence the terms ceramography, plastography and, collectively, materialography.-Preparing metallographic...
, the heritage of the Lorraine region's past in the iron and steel industry.
Roman Divodurum Mediomatricum
In ancient times, Metz was called Divodurum (meaning Holy Village or Holy Fortress in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
), and was the capital of the
CeltThe Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic
MediomatriciThe Mediomatrici were an ancient Celtic people of Gaul, who belong to the division of Belgica. Julius Caesar shows their position in a general way when he says that the Rhine flows along the territories of the Sequani, Mediomatrici, Triboci or Tribocci, and Treviri. Ptolemy places the Mediomatrici...
. The abbreviated name of this tribe, Mettis, gave rise to the name Metz. At the beginning of the Christian Era, the site was already occupied by the
RomansThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Metz became one of the principal towns of
GalliaGaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, more populous than
LutetiaLutetia was a town in pre-Roman and Roman Gaul. The Gallo-Roman city was a forerunner of the re-established Merovingian town that is the ancestor of present-day Paris...
(ancestor of present-day Paris), and rich thanks to its wine exports. It had one of the largest amphitheatres in Gallia. An
aqueductAn aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
of 23 km (14.29 mi) and 118 arches, extending from Gorze to Metz, was constructed in the 2nd century AD to supply the city with water. This aqueduct supplied water for
public bathsIn ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
. As a well-fortified town at the junction of several military roads, Metz soon grew to great importance. One of the last Roman strongholds to surrender to the Germanic tribes, it was captured by the
HunsThe Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
of Attila in 451. Only a solitary chapel was left standing. About the end of the 5th century, Metz passed into the hands of the
FranksThe Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
.
Early Frankish Metz
Though the first Christian churches were to be found outside the city, the existence in the 5th century of the
oratoryAn oratory is a Christian room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray.-Catholic church:In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is a structure other than a parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of Mass...
of
Saint StephenSaint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
within the city walls has been fully proved. In the beginning of the 7th century the oldest monastic establishments were those of Saint Glossinde and Saint Peter. Since King Sigibert I, Metz was frequently the residence of the Merovingian kings of
AustrasiaAustrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...
and the reign of Queen
BrunhildaBrunhilda was a Visigothic princess, married to king Sigebert I of Austrasia who ruled the eastern kingdoms of Austrasia and Burgundy in the names of her sons and grandsons...
in particular imbued the town with great splendour. The town preserved the good-will of the rulers, when the Carolingians acceded to the
Frankish throne, as it had long been a base of their family and one of their primal ancestors,
Saint ArnuffSaint Arnulf of Metz was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia, who retired to the Abbey of Remiremont....
, as well as his son
ChlodulfSaint Chlodulf or more commonly Saint Cloud was bishop of Metz approximately from 657 to 697....
, had been bishops of Metz. Emperor
CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
considered making Metz his chief residence before he finally decided in favour of
AachenAachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
.
There is evidence that the earliest western
musical notationMusic notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
, in the form of
neumeA neume is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation. The word is a Middle English corruption of the ultimately Ancient Greek word for breath ....
s in camp aperto (without
staffIn standard Western musical notation, the staff, or stave, is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch—or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments. Appropriate music symbols, depending upon the intended effect,...
-lines), was created at Metz around 800, as a result of Charlemagne's desire for Frankish church musicians to retain the performance nuances used by the Roman singers. In the basilica,
Louis the PiousLouis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
, King of the Franks, and his half-brother the Bishop
DrogoDrogo , also known as Dreux or Drogon, was an illegitimate son of Frankish emperor Charlemagne by the concubine Regina....
were buried, and King
Charles the BaldCharles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...
was crowned there.
Lotharingian Metz
In 843, Metz became the capital of the kingdom of
LotharingiaLotharingia was a region in northwest Europe, comprising the Low Countries, the western Rhineland, the lands today on the border between France and Germany, and what is now western Switzerland. It was born of the tripartite division in 855, of the kingdom of Middle Francia, itself formed of the...
, and several diets and councils were held there. Numerous Christian manuscripts, the product of the Metz schools of writing and painting, such as the famous Trier Ada manuscript and the
Drogo SacramentaryThe Drogo Sacramentary is a Carolingian illuminated manuscript on vellum of c.850 AD, one of the monuments of Carolingian book illumination...
for the personal use of a bishop of the royal house (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris), are evidence of the active intellectual lives and sumptuous patronage of Carolingian Metz. After the death of King
Lothair IILothair II was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga, daughter of Boso the Elder. He is the namesake of the Lothair Crystal, which he probably commissioned, and of the Cross of Lothair, which was made over a century after his death but...
, the kingdom of Lotharingia, and thus Metz, was contested and alternated between the eastern and the western Frankish kingdom until in 925 it finally became part of the east kingdom and subsequently the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, as a
free imperial cityIn the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
. The increasing influence of the bishops in the city became greater when Adalbert I (928–62) obtained a share of the privileges of the counts; until the 12th century, therefore, the history of the town is practically identical with that of the bishops. Under
Dietrich I of MetzDietrich of Metz was Bishop of Metz from 964 until his death. He was the son of Hedwig of Nordgau and Siegfried of Luxembourg.He succeeded Adalbero I as bishop of Metz...
(ca. 984) the monastery of Saint-Symphorien was restored. In 1039, the former
OttonianOttonian Architecture is an architectural style which evolved during the reign of Emperor Otto the Great . The style was found in Germany and lasted from the mid 10th century until the mid 11th century....
cathedral was built by Dietrich II to take the place of the Carolingian Saint-Stephen church. In the spring of 1096, Metz became one of the scenes of the
RhinelandHistorically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
massacres of non-Christians as count
EmichoCount Emicho , was a count in the Rhineland in the late 11th century and the leader of the "German Crusade" in 1096...
of Flonheim gathered followers for the
First CrusadeThe First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
. A group of these crusaders entered Metz, forcibly converting Jewish families, and killing those who resisted baptism. 22 Jewish citizens of Metz were slaughtered.
The Commune of Metz
In the 12th century, the burgesses began efforts to free themselves from the domination of the bishops. In 1180, the burgesses formed a close corporation, the Tredecem jurati, which were appointed as municipal representatives in 1207. The burgesses were still nominated directly by the bishop, who had also a controlling influence in the selection of the presiding officer of the board of aldermen (which originated in the 11th century). The twenty-five representatives sent by the various parishes held an independent position; in judicial matters they helped the Tredecem jurati and formed the democratic element of the system of government. The other municipal authorities were chosen by the town aristocracy, the so-called Paraiges, i.e. the five associations whose members were selected from distinguished families to protect the interests of their relatives. The other body of burgesses, called a
CommuneCommune may refer to:In society:* Commune, a human community in which resources are shared* Commune , a township or municipality* One of the Communes of France* An Italian Comune...
, also appears as a Paraige from the year 1297; in the individual offices it was represented by double the number of members that each of the older five Paraiges had. Making common cause, the older family unions and the Commune found it advantageous to gradually increase the powers of the city as opposed to the bishops, and also to keep the control of the municipal government fully in their hands and out of that of the powerful growing guilds, so that until the 16th century Metz remained a purely aristocratic organization. In 1300, the Paraiges gained the right to fill the office of head-alderman, during the 14th century the right to elect the Tredecem jurati, and in 1383 the right to mint its own coins. The guilds, which during the 14th century had attained great independence, were completely suppressed (1383), and the last revolutionary attempt of the artisans to seize control of the city government (1405) was put down with much bloodshed.
The city had often to fight for its freedom: from 1324–27 against the dukes of Luxembourg and Lorraine, as well as against the archbishop of Trier; in 1363 and 1365 against the band of English mercenaries under Arnold of Cervola, in the 15th century against France and the dukes of Burgundy, who sought to annex Metz to their lands or at least wanted to exercise a protectorate. Nevertheless it maintained its independence, even though at great cost, and remained, outwardly at least, part of the German Empire, whose ruler, however, concerned himself very little with this important frontier stronghold.
French Metz
Charles IVCharles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
in 1354 and 1356 held
dietsIn politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
here, at the latter of which was promulgated the famous statute known as the
Golden BullThe Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by the Reichstag assembly in Nuremberg headed by the Luxembourg Emperor Charles IV that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire...
. The town therefore felt that it occupied an almost independent position between France and Germany, and wanted most of all to evade the obligation of imperial taxes and attendance at the diet. The estrangement between it and the German States daily became wider, and finally affairs came to such a pass that in the religious and political troubles of 1552, Metz found itself in the middle of the war between
Charles VCharles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
and the rebellious princes. By an agreement of the German princes, Maurice of Saxony,
William of HesseWilliam IV of Hesse-Kassel , also called William the Wise, was the first Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel . He was the founder of the oldest line, which survives to this day.-Life:...
, and John Albert of Mecklenburg, with
Henry II of FranceHenry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
, ratified by the French king at
ChambordThe Treaty of Chambord was an agreement signed on 15 January 1552 at the Château de Chambord between the Catholic King Henry II of France and three Protestant princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by Elector Maurice of Saxony. Based on the terms of the treaty, Maurice ceded the vicariate over the...
, Metz was formally transferred to France, the gates of the city were opened, and Henry II took possession as vicarius sacri imperii et urbis protector.
Francis, Duke of GuiseFrancis de Lorraine II, Prince of Joinville, Duke of Guise, Duke of Aumale , called Balafré , was a French soldier and politician.-Early life:...
, commander of the garrison, restored the old fortifications and added new ones, and successfully resisted the attacks of the emperor from October to December 1552. Metz remained French.
The recognition by the empire of the surrender of Metz to France came at the conclusion of the
Peace of WestphaliaThe Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
. By the construction of the citadel (1555–62), the new government secured itself against the citizens, who were discontented with the turn of events. Important internal changes soon took place. In place of the Paraiges stood the authority of the French king, whose representative was the governor. The head-alderman, now appointed by the governor, was replaced by a royalist mayor (1640). The aldermen were also appointed by the governor and henceforth drawn from the whole body of burgesses. In 1633, the judiciary passed to the parliament. The powers of the Tredecem jurati were also restricted, in 1634 totally abolished, and replaced by the Bailliage royal.
Among the cities of Lorraine, Metz held a prominent position during the French possession for two reasons. First, the city became one of the most important fortresses through the work of
VaubanSébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
(1674) and
CormontaigneLouis de Cormontaigne was a French military engineer.He was the successor of Vauban. Together, they designed the fortifications of Metz....
(1730).
VaubanSébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
wrote to King
Louis XIVLouis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
: "Each one of the fortified towns of Your Majesty protects one province, Metz protects the State." Second, it became the capital of the temporal province of the
Three BishopricsThe Three Bishoprics constituted a province of pre-Revolutionary France consisting of the prince-bishoprics of Verdun, Metz, and Toul within the Lorraine region....
of
MetzThe Roman Catholic Diocese of Metz is a Diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. In the Middle Ages it was in effect an independent state, part of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the bishop who had the ex officio title of count. It was annexed to France by King Henry II in...
,
ToulThe Diocese of Toul was a Roman Catholic diocese seated at Toul in present-day France. It existed from 365 until 1824. From 1048 until 1552 , it was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire.- History :...
, and Verdun, which France had seized (1552) and, by the Peace of Westphalia, retained. In 1633, to this end three bishoprics, a supreme court of justice and court of administration, the Metz's parliament, were created.
In 1681, the Chambre Royale, notorious assembly chamber, whose business it was to decide what fiefs belonged to the Three Bishoprics, which King Louis XIV claimed for France, was made a part of this parliament, which lasted, after a temporary dissolution (1771–75), until the final settlement by the
Estates-General of 1789The Estates-General of 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the nobility, the Church, and the common people...
, whereupon the division of the land into departments and districts followed. Metz became the capital of the Department of Moselle, created in 1790. The revolution visited great calamities upon the city. In the campaign of 1814 the army of the Sixth Coalition besieged the city, but was unable to take the city which was defended by a French army under command of General
DuruttePierre François Joseph Durutte joined the French army at the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. Rapidly promoted for feats of bravery under fire at Jemappes in 1792 and Hondschoote in 1793, he found himself appointed to serve as a staff officer...
.
1819: A view of Metz during the Bourbon Restoration
In July 1819, the Scottish born naval officer
Norwich DuffAdmiral Norwich Duff was a Royal Navy officer.The son of Captain George Duff RN, and Sophia Dirom, he was born at 9 South Castle Street, Edinburgh. He entered the Royal Navy in July 1805, just before his 13th birthday, serving aboard his father's ship HMS Mars as a midshipman...
visited Metz and recorded a detailed description of the town:
Metz is a large and strongly fortified town, situated on a plain at the confluence of the MoselleMoselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
and Seille. It manufactures woollen goods, linen, china, paper, oil, starch and is famous for its hams, liquers, sweetmeats and artificial flowers: they also have a king's manufacture of gunpowder. The government house and the promenades round it are very fine: there is also [an] immense extent of barracks for troops, a large cathedral and a theatre. From the number of running ditches formed by the river there are a great many bridges: the streets, like in all French towns [sic], are narrow and dirty and the houses high: the ground is also very uneven on which they stand. Some street performers gave us a little very tolerable music during our dinner.
Metz and the Franco-Prussian War
During the
Franco-Prussian WarThe Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870–71, Metz was the headquarters of the Third French Army Corps under the command of General
BazaineFrançois Achille Bazaine was a French General and from 1864, a Marshal of France, who surrendered the last organized French army to the Prussians during the Franco-Prussian war. He was the first Marshal who had started as a legionnaire and like the great Marshals of the First Empire, he had risen...
. Through the operations of the German army, Bazaine, after the battles of
ColombeyThe Battle of Borny-Colombey was a minor battle of the Franco-Prussian War. It saw the escape route of the French army under François Bazaine blocked when they encountered the First Army under von Steinmetz...
,
Mars-la-TourThe Battle of Mars-La-Tour was fought on 16 August 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War near the town of Mars-La-Tour in northeast France. Two Prussian corps encountered the entire French Army of the Rhine in a meeting engagement, and with the surprise entailed, successfully forced the Army of the...
, and
GravelotteThe Battle of Gravelotte was a battle of the Franco-Prussian War named after Gravelotte, a village in Lorraine between Metz and the former French–German frontier.-Terrain and armies:...
was besieged in Metz. The besieging German army was commanded by Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia; as the few sorties of the garrison were unable to break the German lines, Metz was forced to surrender (27 October 1870), with the result that 6,000 French officers and 170,000 men were taken prisoner. The philosopher
Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
took part in the siege of Metz as a German soldier. By the
Treaty of FrankfurtThe Treaty of Frankfurt was a peace treaty signed in Frankfurt on 10 May 1871, at the end of the Franco-Prussian War.- Summary :The treaty did the following:...
of 1871, Metz became a German city, and was made a most important garrison and a strong fortress. The German army decided to build a second and a third
fortified lineThe Fortifications of Metz, a city in northeastern France, are extensive, due to the city's strategic position near the border of France and Germany. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the area was annexed by the newly created German Empire in 1871 by the Treaty of Frankfurt and became a...
around Metz. The former fortifications on the south and east were levelled in 1898, thus securing space for growth and development.
20th century and modern day Metz
Following the armistice with Germany ending the First World War, the French army entered Metz in November 1918 and the city was returned to France under the
Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
in 1919. But after the
Battle of FranceIn the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
in 1940 during the Second World War, the city was immediately annexed by the German Third Reich. Most of the Nazi dignitaries assumed it was obvious that the city of Metz, where so many German army officers were born, was a German city. In 1944, the attack on the city by the U.S. Third Army faced heavy resistance from the defending German forces, and resulted in heavy casualties on both sides. The
Battle of MetzThe Battle of Metz was a three-month battle fought between the United States Army and the German Army during World War II. It took place at the city of Metz following the Allied breakout after the Normandy landings. The attack on the city by the U.S. Third Army faced heavy resistance from the...
lasted for several weeks and the
heavily fortifiedThe Fortifications of Metz, a city in northeastern France, are extensive, due to the city's strategic position near the border of France and Germany. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the area was annexed by the newly created German Empire in 1871 by the Treaty of Frankfurt and became a...
city of Metz was captured by the U.S. Army under the command of General
George S. PattonGeorge Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
before the end of November 1944. Metz reverted to France after the war.
Nowadays, the military importance of Metz has decreased, and the city has diversified its economic base. Expansion has continued in the recent decades despite the economic crisis that besets the rest of Lorraine region. Metz is in the heart of a new economic region known as the
SaarLorLuxSaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux, , a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, is a Euroregion of five different regional authorities located in four different European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of several of these authorities or of their subdivisions, administrations,...
EuroregionIn European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region.-Scope:...
, and combines the culture and economic aspects of this unique region in Europe. Since the 1970s, the city has developed its university and overall infrastructure for the European
Greater RegionThe Greater Region is a term used to describe the area of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Wallonia, the French Community of Belgium and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. It is not identical with the SaarLorLux Euregio, being in the same territory.It is situated between...
. Metz's technopole is another example of the economic revival of Metz and its region. The technopole, a high-tech park spread over 180 ha (444.79 acre) specializing in information technology, was established in 1983 and has attracted over 200 companies, 4,000 employees and 4,500 students. World-class academic institutions such as Arts et Métiers ParisTech,
Georgia TechThe Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
(
Georgia Tech LorraineGeorgia Tech Lorraine is a campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Metz, France and plays a pivotal role in Georgia Tech's International Plan.-History:...
) and
SupélecÉcole Supérieure d'Électricité, commonly known as Supélec, is a French Graduate School of Engineering delivering the equivalent of a Master's Degree as well as Ph.D opportunities. It is one of the most prestigious and selective Grandes Ecoles in France, and a reference in the field of electric...
along with established companies including ProConsultant,
SFRSFR is a French mobile phone company. It has over 20 million customers, and provides over 4.6 million households with high-speed internet access...
and
TDFTDF is a French company which provides radio and television transmission services, services for telecoms operators, and other multimedia services: digitization of content, encoding, storage, etc.Its headquarters are located in Paris.It is the dominant partner in the HDRR WiMAX consortium...
are located at the technopole.
In 2010, Metz opened a branch of the Parisian Pompidou centre, the Centre Pompidou-Metz, inaugurated by the president of the
French RepublicThe Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
,
Nicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
, on 12 May 2010. He stated that "the Lorraine region has suffered greatly in recent decades from restructuring, transfers, changes, the textile and steel industries, the mines, the military (...) In this remarkable architectural gesture, we will from now on be able to take hold of the renaissance of Metz and the renaissance of Lorraine." Indeed, in addition of the arrival of the
high-speed rail connectionsThe LGV Est européenne is an extension to the French high-speed rail network, connecting currently Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt , and later Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim . , it is the newest high-speed line in France and still under construction, with of a planned in service...
in 2007 and the Pompidou centre in 2010, the municipality launched urban renewal plans (e.g., edification of the modern Amphithéatre district, reconversion of Metz's extensive military facilities); important infrastructure projects (e.g., building of the Mercy high-tech hospital, refurbishment of squares, public ways, and
Saint-Symphorien stadiumStade Municipal Saint-Symphorien is a multi-purpose stadium in Metz, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches, by FC Metz. The stadium is able to hold 26,700 people and was built in 1923....
, improvement of public transportation); ambitious cultural and educational programmes (e.g., construction of a new popular music venue, creation of a veterinary school, establishment of the Lorraine-University along with Nancy); and economic and industrial development (e.g., extension and creation of a second technopole).
Politics and administration
List of mayors of Metz
| Période |
Name |
Party |
Others |
| 2008 |
Today |
Dominique Gros |
PS |
Engineer, general councillor of Moselle Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, vice-president of Metz Métropole |
| 1971 |
2008 |
Jean-Marie Rausch |
UMP |
minister, senator of Moselle Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, president of Metz Métropole, president of the Regional council of LorraineLorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
|
| 1947 |
1970 |
Raymond Mondon |
RI |
minister, MP for Moselle |
| 1938 |
1947 |
Gabriel Hocquard |
Unknown |
Unknown |
| 1924 |
1938 |
Paul Vautrin |
Bloc Lorrain |
General councillor of Moselle Moselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
|
Capital and prefecture of the Lorraine and Moselle
The
LorraineLorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
parliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
is held in the former Saint-Clement abbey in Metz. Metz is also home of the council of
MoselleMoselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
and the
LorraineLorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
prefectureA prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
is located in the former
Intendant palaceThe title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
.
City administrative division
The city of Metz is divided into different administrative divisions:
- Metz Nord (harbour zone)
- The Islands (opera house, Protestant Temple Neuf, Paul Verlaine University, the marina)
- Metz downtown and Old City (Centre-Ville, Ste Croix, Outre-Seille, and l'Esplanade garden)
- German Imperial District (railway station, Central Post Office, Ste-Therèse-de-l'Enfant-Jesus church)
- Sablon (Centre Pompidou-Metz museum, indoor sport arena, Seille park)
- Plantières and Queuleu (Queuleu fort
The Fort de Queuleu is a fortification to the southeast of Metz, near Queuleu, France. Construction began while part of Lorraine was under French rule in 1868. After the interruption of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the fort was improved between 1872 and 1875 by the German Empire , which had...
)
- Bellecroix (Bellecroix fort)
- Vallières (Robert Schumann hospital)
- Borny and Grigy (technopole)
- La Grange-aux-Bois (congress centre, Mercy hospital and Mercy château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
)
- Magny
Civilian architecture
The city is famous for its yellow limestone architecture, due to the extensive use of the
Jaumont stoneThe Pierre de Jaumont is an oolitic limestone of the Upper Jurassic, found in Malancourt-la-Montagne, part of the commune of Montois-la-Montagne, in Lorraine, France....
. The historic district has kept part of the
Gallo-RomanThe term Gallo-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire. This was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman mores and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context...
city planning. Indeed, Divodurums
Cardo MaximusThe cardo was a north-south oriented street in Roman cities, military camps, and coloniae. The cardo, an integral component of city planning, was lined with shops and vendors, and served as a hub of economic life. The main cardo was called cardo maximus.Most Roman cities also had a Decumanus...
, then called Via Scarponensis, includes today the Trinitaires, Taison, and Serpenoise streets and the
Robert SchumanRobert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
and
General LeclercPhilippe François Marie, comte de Hauteclocque, then Leclerc de Hauteclocque, by a 1945 decree that incorporated his French Resistance alias Jacques-Philippe Leclerc to his name, , was a French general during World War II...
avenues. The
Decumanus MaximusIn Roman city planning, a decumanus was an east-west-oriented road in a Roman city, castra , or colonia. The main decumanus was the Decumanus Maximus, which normally connected the Porta Praetoria to the Porta Decumana .This name comes from the fact that the via decumana or decimana In Roman city...
is the ancestor of present-day En Fournirue and d'Estrées streets, passing in front of the Saint-Stephen cathedral from the 13th century.
Metz is home to a mishmash of architectural layers, witnessing its millennium history at the crossroad of different cultures. Thus, from its Gallo-Roman past, the city conserves vestiges of the
thermaeIn ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
(in the basement of Metz's museums), parts of the
aqueductAn aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
, and
Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains basilicaThe basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains is a historic pre-medieval church building in Metz, France. It began life as a Roman gymnasium in 380 AD, making it one of the oldest churches in Europe.-History:...
. The Saint-Louis square with its arcades, where currency changers gathered, remains a major symbol of the
High MedievalThe High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
heritage of the city, as well as, a
Knights TemplarThe Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
chapel. The
GothicGothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
cathedral, several churches and
HôtelsIn French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
, and two remarkable municipal granaries reflect the
Late Middle AgesThe Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....
.
Examples of
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
architecture can be seen in the House of Heads and in the Burtaigne
HôtelIn French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
from the 16th century. The
EnlightenmentThe Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
is represented by buildings of the Petit-Saulcy island, the
opera houseThe Opéra-Théatre de Metz Métropole is an 750-seat opera house and theatre located on the Petit-Saulcy island in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France. It is the oldest opera house working in France and one of the oldest in Europe...
and the
prefectureA prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
palace built by Jacques Oger, and the court house built by
Charles-Louis ClérisseauCharles-Louis Clérisseau was a French architectural draughtsman, antiquary and artist. He had a role in the genesis of neoclassical architecture during the second half of the 18th century....
in 1776. Also, the city hall and buildings surrounding the
town squareA town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, and town green.Most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets,...
are works of
Jacques-François BlondelJacques-François Blondel was a French architect. He was the grandson of François Blondel , whose course of architecture had appeared in four volumes in 1683 -Biography:...
, awarded by the
Royal Academy of ArchitectureThe Académie royale d'architecture was a French learned society founded on December 30, 1671 by Louis XIV, king of France under the impulsion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert...
to redesign the centre of Metz in 1755.
The German Imperial District was built during the
first annexation of MetzThe Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
by
Otto von BismarckOtto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
to the
German EmpireThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
. In order to germanify the city, Emperor Wilhelm II decided to create a new district shaped by a distinctive blend of Germanic architecture, including Renaissance, neo-Romanesque or neo-Classical, mixed with elements of
art nouveauArt Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
,
art decoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
, Alsatian and mock-Bavarian styles. Moreover, the
Jaumont stoneThe Pierre de Jaumont is an oolitic limestone of the Upper Jurassic, found in Malancourt-la-Montagne, part of the commune of Montois-la-Montagne, in Lorraine, France....
, commonly used everywhere else in the city, was replaced by stones used in the
RhinelandHistorically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
, like pink and grey
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
,
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and
basaltBasalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
. The district, thought by German architect Conrad Wahn, features noteworthy buildings including the
water towerA water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
, the impressive railway station, the Central Post-Office, the Mondon square (former Imperial square), and the large Foch avenue (former Kaiser Wihelm Ring).
Modern architecture can also be seen in the town. Hence the
FabertAbraham de Fabert, marquis d'Esternay was a Marshal of France,He was the son of Abraham Fabert, seigneur de Moulins , a famous printer who rendered great services, civil and military, to Henry IV....
boarding high school built by architects Roger Parisot and Paul Micholeau in 1936 and the Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus church was built by architect
Roger-Henri ExpertRoger-Henri Expert was a French architect.- Life :The son of a merchant, Expert first studied painting at the École des beaux-arts in Bordeaux, then from 1906 attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied under Gaston Redon and Gustave Umbdenstock. In 1912 he won the second Prix de...
in 1954 in a
thin-shell structureThin-shell structures are light weight constructions using shell elements. These elements are typically curved and are assembled to large structures...
. Then, the fire station was designed by architect
Georges-Henri Pingusson-Biography:Georges-Henri Pingusson was born 1894 in Clermont-Ferrand. 1920-1925 he studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.He built hotel Latitude 43 and several villas in the south of France...
in 1960 and the Miséricorde chapel by architects Henri Drillen and Pierre Fauque in 1965.
SubdivisionsSubdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision...
designed by architects
Jean DubuissonJean Dubuisson was a French architect who is regarded as one of the leading practitioners of the French post-World War II years.- Biography :Jean René Julien Dubuisson was born in Lille, France...
and Roger Gaertner (1978) can also be seen. The refurbishment of the former
Ney ArsenalThe Arsenal is a cultural venue dedicated specially to Classical and Erudite musics and located near the Esplanade garden in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France...
into a concert hall venue in 1989 by architect
Ricardo BofillRicardo Bofill, also Ricard Bofill Leví is a Catalan Spanish postmodernist architect.He studied at the School of Architecture in Geneva, Switzerland...
represents the
postmodernism movementPostmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
. The city displays
street furnitureStreet furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed on streets and roads for various purposes, including traffic barriers,...
s designed by
Philippe StarckPhilippe Patrick Starck is a French product designer and probably the best known designer in the New Design style...
and Norman Foster.
The Centre Pompidou-Metz museum represents a strong architectural initiative by
Shigeru BanShigeru Ban is an accomplished Japanese and international architect, most famous for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard paper tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims...
and Jean de Gastine, marking the entrance of Metz into the 21st century. The building, along with the arena by Paul Chemetov built in 2002, will be the cornerstone of the Amphitheatre district. The new district of 27 ha (66.72 acre), conceived by architects and urban planners Nicolas Michelin and Jean-Paul Viguier, is currently under construction and includes the erection of a convention centre and a shopping mall. The inner district already encompasses the Seille park designed by landscape architect Jacques Coulon. The urban project is expected to be completed by 2015. Moreover, the Borny district, formally designed by architect Jean Dubuisson, is currently being extensively refurbished by urban planner Bernard Reichen, and will include a concert venue, conceived in music box shape by its architect Rudy Ricciotti. Its completion is expected in 2012.
Military architecture
As a historical
GarrisonGarrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
town, Metz has been largely influenced by military architecture throughout its history. Indeed, from
classical antiquityAncient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
to the present, the city has been successively fortified or complemented in order to receive the troops stationed there. Thus,
defensive wallA defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
s from
classical antiquityClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
to 20th century are still visible today and are included in garden and park design along the Moselle and Seille rivers and in the city surroundings. A medieval city gate from the 13th century, named Germans' Gate , has become one of the symbols of the city. Remains of the
citadelA citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
from the 16th century and fortifications built by
Louis de CormontaigneLouis de Cormontaigne was a French military engineer.He was the successor of Vauban. Together, they designed the fortifications of Metz....
are still visible today. Important barracks, mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, are spread around the city, and some of them which are of architectural interest have reconverted to civilian facilities, e.g. the
ArsenalThe Arsenal is a cultural venue dedicated specially to Classical and Erudite musics and located near the Esplanade garden in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France...
. Ringing the city are extensive
fortifications of MetzThe Fortifications of Metz, a city in northeastern France, are extensive, due to the city's strategic position near the border of France and Germany. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the area was annexed by the newly created German Empire in 1871 by the Treaty of Frankfurt and became a...
, that include early examples of
Séré de Rivières systemThe Séré de Rivières system was an ensemble of fortifications built from 1874 and first used at the beginning of the First World War along the frontiers and coasts of France...
forts. Other forts were incorporated into the
Maginot LineThe Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
defence. A hiking trail on the Mont Saint-Quentin plateau passes through former military training zone and ends at the now abandoned military forts of the first belt, and also provides a high ground from which to survey the city.
Museums and exhibition halls
The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a museum of
modern and contemporary artsContemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
, the largest temporary exhibition area outside Paris in France. The museum features exhibition from the extensive collection of the
Pompidou centreCentre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
(Europe's largest collection of 20th century art). Designed by Japanese architect
Shigeru BanShigeru Ban is an accomplished Japanese and international architect, most famous for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard paper tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims...
and French Jean de Gastine, the building is remarkable for the complex and innovative carpentry of its roof. The museum also includes a theatre, an auditorium, and a restaurant terrace.
The
Golden CourtyardThe Museums of Metz , in Metz, France, were founded in 1839. They are also known as the Golden Courtyard Museums, in reference to the palace of Austrasia's kings in Metz, whose buildings they occupy...
museums in reference to the palace of Austrasia's kings, are museums of Metz dedicated to the history of the city. The museums are divided into four sections (history and archeological, medieval, architecture, and fine arts), and incorporate the
Gallo-Roman bathsIn ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
, the ancient Petites-Carmes abbey, the former
TrinitarianThe Order of the Holy Trinity is a Catholic religious order that was founded in the area of Cerfroid, some 80 km northeast of Paris, at the end of the twelfth century. The founder was St. John de Matha, whose feast day is celebrated on 17 December...
church, and the Chèvremont medieval
granaryA granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
.
The 49Nord-6Est, the
LorraineLorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
's exhibition of contemporary art, is located in the Saint-Liver
HôtelIn French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
, the oldest civic building of the city dating from the 12th century. The municipal archives, located in the Recollets cloisters, preserve and exhibit the historical records of Metz's municipality dating from medieval times to present. The
Solange BertrandSolange Bertrand was a French abstract painter, sculptor, and engraver.-Early life and education:Born in Montigny-lès-Metz, Bertrand studied art for four years to the École des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, and then attended the Beaux–Arts in Paris...
foundation conserves and presents the works of the artist and organizes different art exhibitions. The city also boasts several private art galleries.
Entertainment and performing arts
The Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole is a 750-seat opera house on the Petit-Saulcy island. Designed in a
TuscanyTuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
-influenced neo-Classical style by Jacques Oger and inaugurated in 1752, it is the oldest
opera houseAn opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
working in France and one of the last possessing its own
costumeThe term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
ateliersAtelier is the French word for "workshop", and in English is used principally for the workshop of an artist in the fine or decorative arts, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students and apprentices worked together producing pieces that went out in the master's name...
. The duke of Belle-Isle described it as "one of the most beautiful of France's opera-theatres" in his time. The Metz opera works in close collaboration with the
National Opera of LorraineOpéra national de Lorraine is an opera company and opera house located in the city of Nancy in the French province of Lorraine. Formerly named the Opéra de Nancy et de Lorraine, it was given the status of "national opera" in 2006....
and features plays, dance, and lyric poetry.
The
ArsenalThe Arsenal is a cultural venue dedicated specially to Classical and Erudite musics and located near the Esplanade garden in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France...
is former military building turned into an exposition and
concert hall by Catalan architect
Ricardo BofillRicardo Bofill, also Ricard Bofill Leví is a Catalan Spanish postmodernist architect.He studied at the School of Architecture in Geneva, Switzerland...
, and inaugurated by Russian cellist
Mstislav RostropovichMstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
in 1989. The Arsenal is dedicated to
art musicArt music is an umbrella term used to refer to musical traditions implying advanced structural and theoretical considerations and a written musical tradition...
, is widely renowned for its excellent acoustics and considered as one of the most beautiful concert halls in Europe.
Located on the Sainte-Croix hill, Les Trinitaires is a multi-media arts complex housed in an ancient convent, which vaulted cellar and chapel have been the city's prime venue for
jazz musicJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
for over 45 years. Some big names of Jazz, such as American saxophonists
Sonny RollinsTheodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
and
Archie SheppArchie Shepp is a prominent African-American jazz saxophonist. Shepp is best known for his passionately Afrocentric music of the late 1960s, which focused on highlighting the injustices faced by the African-Americans, as well as for his work with the New York Contemporary Five, Horace Parlan, and...
, have performed there. The Gothic
cloisterA cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
s from the 13th century, used now as an open-air stage, once housed the
Trinitarian OrderThe Order of the Holy Trinity is a Catholic religious order that was founded in the area of Cerfroid, some 80 km northeast of Paris, at the end of the twelfth century. The founder was St. John de Matha, whose feast day is celebrated on 17 December...
founded by Saint
John of MathaSaint John of Matha was a Christian saint of the 12th century and founder of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity. He was born on 1154 at Faucon-de-Barcelonnette, France. As a youth, he was educated at Aix-en-Provence, and later studied theology at the University of Paris...
and Saint Felix of Valois. The arts complex includes also a theatre, an exhibition hall, and a bar.
Other venues, such as the Braun hall or the
Bernard-Marie KoltèsBernard-Marie Koltès was a French playwright and director.-Life:Born in 1948 to a middle-class family in Metz, his life was violent and anchored in revolt. He tried his hand at writing at a very young age but later renounced it, and didn't take to the stage until the age of twenty...
theater, contribute to the choice of performing halls in Metz. Finally, numerous associations and private music bars and theatres collaborate to the entertaining life in Metz.
Gastronomy
Different recipes, such as jam, tart,
charcuterieCharcuterie is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork. Charcuterie is part of the garde manger chef's repertoire...
and fruit brandy, are made from the
Mirabelle plumThe mirabelle plum, also known as the mirabelle prune , is the edible drupaceous fruit of the mirabelle prune tree, a cultivar of the plum tree of the genus Prunus...
, which is one of the gastronomic symbols of the city and the surrounding area. Damson plum and
rhubarbRhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles...
are also widely consumed. Other local specialties include the
quicheQuiche is a savory, open-faced pie of vegetables, cheese, or meat in custard, baked in a pastry crust.The quiche is sometimes regarded as the savoury equivalent ofegg custard tart.- Etymology:...
, the
potéeA Potée is a French culinary term which, in general, refers to all preparations cooked in an earthenware pot. More specifically, it refers to a soup or stew made of pork and vegetables, most frequently, cabbage and potatoes of which Choucroute is the most characteristic.A potée is an ancient and...
, and also the
suckling pigA suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother's milk . In culinary, a suckling pig is slaughtered between the ages of two and six weeks. It is traditionally cooked whole, often roasted, in various cuisines...
. Metz cuisine, as well as
MosellanMoselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
and
AlsatianAlsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
cuisine, is also known for the use in vinaigrette dressings of Melfor vinegar, a local vinegar made with the infusion of honey and plants. Local beverages include
Moselle wineMoselle wine is produced in three countries along the Moselle river: France, Luxembourg and Germany. Moselle wines are mainly white and are made in some of the coldest climates used for commercial winemaking.-France:...
and Amos beer. Also, Metz is the cradle of some
pastriesPastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...
like the Metz's tart (cheese pie-like) and the Metz balls , a ganache-stuffed biscuit coated with marzipan, caramel, and dark chocolate.
Annual events
France's second largest
flea marketA flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
is held once or twice a month in the congress centre of Metz. In addition, many other events are celebrated in Metz throughout the year. Here is a non-exhaustive list:
- Pilgrimage of Saint Blaise
Saint Blaise was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea . According to his Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded...
on 3 February
- Funfair
A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...
in May
- Été du Livre, festival of literature in June
- Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
on 14 July
- Macellum
A macellum is an ancient Roman indoor market building that sold mostly provisions . The building normally sat alongside the forum and basilica, providing a place in which a market could be held...
the first week-end of August
- Mirabelle festival in August. Every year, the city of Metz dedicates two weeks to the Mirabelle plum
The mirabelle plum, also known as the mirabelle prune , is the edible drupaceous fruit of the mirabelle prune tree, a cultivar of the plum tree of the genus Prunus...
. In addition to open markets selling fresh prunes, mirabelle tarts, mirabelle liquor, etc. there is live music, fireworks, parties, art exhibits, a parade with floral floats and competition, and the crowning of the Mirabelle Queen and a gala of celebration
- Les Montgolfiades de Metz, Europe's largest hot air balloon festival in September.
- European Heritage Days
European Heritage Days is a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission involving all 50 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention under the motto, Europe: a common heritage. The annual programme offers opportunities to visit buildings, monuments and sites, many of...
, the third week-end of September
- Open de Moselle
The Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011...
in September
- Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival. A Nuit Blanche will typically have museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the city itself being turned into a de facto art gallery, providing space for...
in October
- Christmas market
A Christmas market, also known as Christkindlmarkt, Christkindlesmarkt, Christkindlmarket, and Weihnachtsmarkt, is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent...
in November and December (2nd most popular in France, after StrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
)
- Saint Nicholas parade in December. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of the Lorraine regionLorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
.
The legend of the Graoully
More details about the legend of the Graoully
The Graoully is depicted as a fearsome dragon, vanquished by the sacred powers of Metz's first bishop, Saint Clement. The Graoully quickly became a symbol of the town of Metz and can be see in numerous insignia of the city, since the 10th century. Authors from Metz tend to present the legend of the Graoully as a symbol of Christianity's victory over
paganismPaganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
, represented by the harmful dragon. Today, the Graoully remains one of the major symbols of Metz. A representation of the Graoully may be seen in the crypt in the cathedral. A semi-permanent sculpture of the Graoully is also suspended in mid-air on Taison street, near the cathedral, and the Graoully is shown on the heraldic emblems of
football clubFootball Club de Metz, commonly referred to as simply Metz , is a French association football club based in Metz. The club was formed in 1932 and has spent most of its history in the Ligue 1, though they currently play in Ligue 2, the second level in French football league system. Metz plays its...
and ice hockey team of the city.
High schools
Metz is home to numerous high schools. The most notable of them is the
Fabert high schoolLycée Fabert is a senior high school in Metz, Moselle, Lorraine, France. The school, in the city centre, was the first lycée in Metz.-Facility:The high school consists of several buildings. They include:* The old lycée - It is the former convent abbey of St...
, reputed for its scientific education and its classes préparatoires in mathematics. Notable fellows of the school include
Alexis de TocquevilleAlexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution . In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in...
,
Robert SchumanRobert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
,
Jean-Victor PonceletJean-Victor Poncelet was a French engineer and mathematician who served most notably as the commandant general of the École Polytechnique...
, or
Joachim von RibbentropUlrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
.
University
Metz is home to the University of Lorraine (UdL). The UdL is divided into two university centres in Metz (Material sciences, technology, and management) and one in Nancy (biological sciences, health care, administration, and management). The UdL has a student body of over 55,000 and offers 101 accredited research centres organized in 9 research areas and 8 doctoral colleges.
The Paul-Verlaine University, Metz unit of the Lorraine University, was created in 1970 as the Germans had removed any university from Metz during the
Alsace-Moselle annexationThe Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
. Since then, the university has developed on three different main sites, Saulcy Island, Bridoux, and Metz-Technopôle. The Paul-Verlaine University enjoys a privileged position at a hub opening up to Germany and the
BeneluxThe Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
, and has gained recognition for the development of joint Franco-German curricula. Metz's university has a student body of more than 17,000 and offers a wide range of multidisciplinary courses. Here is a list of institutes in Metz:
- Georgia Tech Lorraine
Georgia Tech Lorraine is a campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Metz, France and plays a pivotal role in Georgia Tech's International Plan.-History:...
- International Institute of Information Technology (Supinfo)
- International Commerce Graduate School (ESIDEC)
- Franco-German Institute of Technology, Economy, and Sciences (ISFATES)
- Franco-German Innovative Centre of Metz (CIRAM)
- National Engineering Graduate School of Metz (ENIM)
- École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
Arts et Métiers ParisTech is the French leading engineering school in the fields of mechanics and industrialization.The school trained 85,000 engineers since its foundation in 1780 by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt....
(ENSAM)
- Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers
The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers , or National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, is a doctoral degree-granting higher education establishment operated by the French government, dedicated to providing education and conducting research for the promotion of science and industry...
(Cnam)
- École Supérieure d'Électricité (Supélec)
- Regional Institute of Administration (IRA)
- Music Education Centre of Lorraine (CeFEdeM de Lorraine)
- Construction Engineering Graduate School (ESITC)
- Art School of Metz
Research
Georgia Tech LorraineGeorgia Tech Lorraine is a campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Metz, France and plays a pivotal role in Georgia Tech's International Plan.-History:...
is home to the Lafayette Institute, which offers high tech service to industry, applied research and development, and spin-off companies in the optoelectronic sector.
Transportation
Railways
The
Gare de Metz-Ville-External links:*...
is connected to the French high speed train (
TGVThe TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
) network, which provides a direct rail service to Paris and the city of Luxembourg. The time from Paris (
Paris East stationis one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...
) to Metz train station is 82 minutes. Additionally Metz is served by the
Lorraine TGV train stationLorraine TGV is a new railway station on the LGV Est, a TGV high-speed rail line from Paris to Strasbourg. It is located in Louvigny, between the towns of Metz and Nancy.When built, it was criticized for being too far from any of the towns to be useful...
, located at
Louvigny Louvigny is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It had a registered population of 728 in 2004.It is the location of a new high speed rail station, which opened in 2007, and is also close to the regional airport serving Metz and Nancy, so may face pressure to...
, 25 km (15.5 mi)to the south of Metz, for high speed trains going to
NantesNantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
,
RennesRennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
,
LilleLille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, or
BordeauxBordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
(without stopping in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
). Also, Metz is one of the main stations of the regional express trains systems named
MétrolorMétrolor, as its name suggests , is a brand for the internal passenger train service of the Lorraine region, where the trains' frequency and network's density are comparable to rapid transit systems.- Origins :...
. One of the main lines is the Nancy-Metz-Luxembourg line, completed by many lines going to main cities of the area.
Airports
The Luxembourg international airport is the nearest international airport connected to Metz by
MétrolorMétrolor, as its name suggests , is a brand for the internal passenger train service of the Lorraine region, where the trains' frequency and network's density are comparable to rapid transit systems.- Origins :...
train. Also,
Lorraine TGV stationLorraine TGV is a new railway station on the LGV Est, a TGV high-speed rail line from Paris to Strasbourg. It is located in Louvigny, between the towns of Metz and Nancy.When built, it was criticized for being too far from any of the towns to be useful...
is 75 minutes by train from
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
international Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. Finally,
Metz-Nancy-Lorraine AirportMetz-Nancy-Lorraine Airport or Aéroport de Metz-Nancy-Lorraine is an airport serving the Lorraine région of France. It is located in Goin, 16.5 km southeast of Metz, and north of Nancy .It opened to the public on October 28, 1991 and replaced Nancy-Essey and Metz-Frescaty airports...
is the airport serving the Lorraine region. It is located in the city of
Goin Goin is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....
, at 16.5 km (10.25 mi) Metz southeast.
Motorways and local transportation
Metz is ideally located at the
intersectionAn intersection is a road junction where two or more roads either meet or cross at grade . An intersection may be 3-way - a T junction or fork, 4-way - a crossroads, or 5-way or more...
of two major road axes: The
Paris to Strasbourg A4 motorwayThe A4 Autoroute, also known as l'autoroute de l'Est is a French autoroute that travels between the cities of Paris and Strasbourg. It forms parts of European routes E25 and E50....
, itself a part of the
E50European route E 50 is an A-type east–west connection across the European continent. It connects the key naval port of Brest France with Makhachkala, on the Caspian Sea in the Russian republic Dagestan....
motorway connecting Paris to
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and the
A31 motorwayThe A31 autoroute is a French autoroute. It runs from the Franco-Luxembourg border to Beaune where it joins the A6. The north of the autoroute is free, up to the town of Toul, but it is a toll road south of there...
, which goes north to
LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
and the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
towards Nancy,
DijonDijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
, and
LyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
.
Local transportation in the agglomeration is carried out by buses.
Waterways
There is some significant cross border fluvial tourism on the Rhine-Moselle system. Additionally, Metz port is the biggest port handling cereals in France with over 4,000,000 tons/year.
Clubs and sports events
Metz is home to the
Football Club of MetzFootball Club de Metz, commonly referred to as simply Metz , is a French association football club based in Metz. The club was formed in 1932 and has spent most of its history in the Ligue 1, though they currently play in Ligue 2, the second level in French football league system. Metz plays its...
(FC Metz), a football association club in
Ligue 2Ligue 2 , formerly known as Division 2, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel , the other being Ligue 1, the country's top football division...
, the second division of French football. FC Metz has twice won the
French CupThe Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
(in 1984 and 1988) and the
French League CupThe Coupe de la Ligue , known outside of France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel...
(in 1986 and 1996), and was
French championshipLigue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
runner-up in 1998. FC Metz has also gained recognition in France and Europe for its successful youth academy, winning the
Gambardella CupThe Coupe Gambardella is a French football cup competition held between the under-19s of the French football clubs, organized by the French Football Federation ....
3 times (in 1981, 2001, and 2010), and producing players such as
Emmanuel AdebayorSheyi Emmanuel Adebayor is a Togolese footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur as a striker on loan from Manchester City. He plays in the same position for the Togo national team. Adebayor previously played for Metz, Monaco and Arsenal and was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2008...
,
Miralem PjanićMiralem Pjanić is a Bosnian football player who plays for Italian club Roma in Serie A. He plays as an attacking midfielder and has been described as an "old-fashioned playmaker with huge technical qualities"....
,
Louis SahaLouis Laurent Saha is a French footballer of Guadelupian origin who currently plays as a forward for Everton FC in the Premier League and the France national team. A former scholar at the Clairefontaine football academy, he started his career at Metz before playing on loan at Newcastle United...
, or
Papiss CisséPapiss Demba Cissé is a Senegalese football striker who currently plays for SC Freiburg.-Club career:Cissé began his career with AS Génération Foot before transferring to the French side FC Metz in summer 2005. After only one month during the 2005–06 season, he left Metz and was loaned to French...
.
Metz is also home to the
Open de MoselleThe Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011...
, an
ATP World Tour 250 tournamentThe ATP World Tour 250 series is a new series for tennis tournaments of the Association of Tennis Professionals from the 2009 ATP World Tour...
, which takes place usually in September. The tournament is played on indoor hard courts. Frenchman
Arnaud ClémentArnaud Clément is a professional tennis player from France. His best achievement is reaching the final of the 2001 Australian Open.-Career:Clément was born in Aix-en-Provence, and currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland...
won the inaugural tournament in 2003, with players
Ivan Ljubičić----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....
(2005),
Novak DjokovicNovak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
(2006),
Tommy RobredoTommy Robredo Garcés is a Spanish professional tennis player. On 8 May 2006, he broke into the world's top ten for the first time. His highest singles ranking to date is No...
(2007), and
Gilles SimonGilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...
(2010) following his success.
The
Metz HandballMetz Handball is a women's handball club based in Metz, France. They are the en-titre champions of French League in the 2010/2011 season and they play in the EHF Women's Champions League..- Honours :*Championnat de France:...
is a
Team HandballHandball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
club is the current French women's champion and displaying 17 wins in French Woman First League championship, 7 wins in French Women League Cup, and 4 wins in French Women F.A. Cup. French Vice World Champion
Allison PineauAllison Pineau is a French handball player. She plays for the club Metz HB and for the French national team.She participated at the 2009 World Women's Handball Championship in China, winning a silver medal with the French team, and selected into the all-star team of the tournament, as...
, who plays for the club, was elected female
IHFThe International Handball Federation, often referred to by the acronym IHF, is the administrative and controlling body for International team handball.- Championships :*World Men's Handball Championship*World Women's Handball Championship...
World Handball Player-Men:-Women:-External links:* *...
in 2009.
Sports infrastructures
- Saint-Symphorien stadium, a multi-purpose stadium built in 1923, home to FC Metz
Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as simply Metz , is a French association football club based in Metz. The club was formed in 1932 and has spent most of its history in the Ligue 1, though they currently play in Ligue 2, the second level in French football league system. Metz plays its...
since the creation of the club.
- Palais omnisport Les Arènes
The Palais omnisport Les Arènes, often abbreviated as Les Arènes, is an indoor sports arena in Metz, France. It is the home venue of the Metz Handball team and the Open de Moselle men's tennis tournament, part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. Currently the arena has a capacity of...
, nicknamed Les Arènes, an indoor sports arena built by architect Paul Chemetov in 2002. It is the home venue of the Metz HandballMetz Handball is a women's handball club based in Metz, France. They are the en-titre champions of French League in the 2010/2011 season and they play in the EHF Women's Champions League..- Honours :*Championnat de France:...
team.
- Saint-Symphorien indoor arena with its ice rink home to Hockey Club Metz Moselle Lorraine, Ice Hockey team club of Metz
- Plan d'Eau Saint-Symphorien, an expanse of water bulging from the Moselle river, used as a marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
and for water sports
- Garden Golf of Metz-Technopôle, designed by golf course architect Robert Berthet, is an 18-holes golf course on 50 hectares located near Metz's technopole
- L'Anneau, an indoor athetics hall
Main Sights
Religious heritage
- Saint-Stephen
Saint Étienne de Metz , also known as Metz Cathedral) is a Gothic, Catholic cathedral in the city of Metz, capital of Lorraine, France...
, GothicGothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
built in the 13th century. The cathedral is sometimes nicknamed the Good Lord's lantern , possessing the largest expanse of stained glassThe term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows in the world (6,500 m2 or 70,000 sq ft). The stained glass windows include works by Hermann von MünsterHermann von Münster was a German master glassmaker, native of Münster, in Westphalia, and active in Lorraine.- Biography :...
(14th C); Théobald of Lixheim and Valentin BouschValentin Bousch , was a master glass artist and a glass painter of the Renaissance.- His life :The earliest mention of his work is at Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, near Nancy in 1514...
(16th C); Laurent-Charles Maréchal (19th C); Roger BissièreRoger Bissière was a French artist who painted in the abstract Tachisme style. He was born in Villeréal, Lot-et-Garonne, and died in Boissièrettes...
, Jacques VillonJacques Villon was a French cubist painter and printmaker.-Early life:Born Gaston Emile Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in the Haute-Normandie region of France, he came from a prosperous and artistically inclined family...
and Marc ChagallMarc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
(20th C). Moreover, the cathedral possesses the third highest nave in France (41.41 m – 136 ft).
- Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains basilica
The basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains is a historic pre-medieval church building in Metz, France. It began life as a Roman gymnasium in 380 AD, making it one of the oldest churches in Europe.-History:...
, the oldest church in France built between 380 and 395 AD as a Roman gymnasium, was converted into a Christian basilica in the 7th century. The basilica is one of the birthplaces of the Roman Messin chant later called Gregorian chantGregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
.
- Saint-Maximin church, built between 12th–15th century, features stained glass windows of Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
. Here, theologian Jacques-Bénigne BossuetJacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....
delivered eulogies and Paul VerlainePaul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
was baptized.
- Notre-Dame-de-Metz
Notre-Dame de l'Assomption is a church situated on the Rue de la Chevre, formerly the Rue de la Cheuve, in the city of Metz in Lorraine, France. Administratively it is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metz.-Architecture and Artworks:...
church built during the 18th century in the Jesuit style and once part of a Jesuit complex. The church displays stained glass windows of Laurent-Charles Maréchal (19th C).
- Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus church (20th C) displays stained glass windows of Nicolas Untersteller. The building has a thin-shell structure
Thin-shell structures are light weight constructions using shell elements. These elements are typically curved and are assembled to large structures...
designed by architect Roger-Henri ExpertRoger-Henri Expert was a French architect.- Life :The son of a merchant, Expert first studied painting at the École des beaux-arts in Bordeaux, then from 1906 attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied under Gaston Redon and Gustave Umbdenstock. In 1912 he won the second Prix de...
, and possesses a spireA spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
in the form of a pilgrim's staffThe pilgrim's staff is a walking stick used by pilgrims on the Way of St. James to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Generally, the stick has a hook on it so that something may be hung from it. The walking stick sometimes has a cross piece on it...
of 70 m (229.64 ft) high.
- Sainte-Ségolène church (13th C).
- Saint-Martin church (12th C, Laurent-Charles Maréchal's stained glass windows).
- Saint-Pierre-de-la-Citadelle church.
- Saint-Euchaire church.
- Saint-Clément church (17th C, now regional council of Lorraine
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
).
- Saint-Vincent abbey (10th C)
- Recollets cloisters (14th C), housing today the municipal archives and the European Institute of Ecology
- Trinitarian Order
The Order of the Holy Trinity is a Catholic religious order that was founded in the area of Cerfroid, some 80 km northeast of Paris, at the end of the twelfth century. The founder was St. John de Matha, whose feast day is celebrated on 17 December...
cloisters (13th C), today a multi-media arts complex which promotes jazz music.
- Chapel of the Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
(13th C), built in Romanesque style and once part of the commandry of the Knights Templar. The chapel features important muralA mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s.
- Protestant Temple Neuf (New Church)(1901–1904), neo-Romanesque church, built during the German annexation by German architect Conrad Wahn
- Protestant church of the German Garrison (1875–1881), neo-Gothic church. Only the bell tower has survived as the church was partially destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War.
- Synagogue (1848–1850) built in neo-Romanesque style
- Christian necropolis from the 19th century
- Jewish Cemetery of Metz-Chambière
Civil heritage
- House of François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
(12th C), including Sainte-Genest chapel (13th C)
- Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, André Schwarz-BartAndré Schwarz-Bart was a French novelist of Polish-Jewish origins....
, Gustave KahnGustave Kahn was a French Symbolist poet and art critic.Kahn was born in Metz.He claimed to have invented the term vers libre, or free verse; he was in any case one of the first European exponents of the form. His principal publications include Les Palais nomades, 1887, Domaine de fée, 1895, and...
, Gabriel PiernéHenri Constant Gabriel Pierné was a French composer, conductor, and organist.-Biography:Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz in 1863. His family moved to Paris to escape the Franco-Prussian War. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, gaining first prizes for solfège, piano, organ, counterpoint and fugue...
, and Charles Pêtre native houses
- Chèvremont and Antonistes granaries
A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
(respectively from 13th and 14th century)
- Saint-Livier Hôtel
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
(12th C); Bulette Hôtel (14th C); Heu and Gargan Hôtels (15th C); Burtaigne and Gournay Hôtels (16th C); House of Heads (16th C)
- Opera house
The Opéra-Théatre de Metz Métropole is an 750-seat opera house and theatre located on the Petit-Saulcy island in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France. It is the oldest opera house working in France and one of the oldest in Europe...
, built between 1732 and 1752 in TuscanyTuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
-influenced neo-Classical style
- Covered market, one of the oldest, most grandiose in France. Originally built in 1785 as the palace for the bishop of Metz, the French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
broke out before he could move in and the citizens decided to turn it into a food market.
- Centre Pompidou-Metz, built between 2006 and 2010, museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban
Shigeru Ban is an accomplished Japanese and international architect, most famous for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard paper tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims...
and his colleague Jean Gastine
Administrative heritage
- City hall and the tourism office, built by architect Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel was a French architect. He was the grandson of François Blondel , whose course of architecture had appeared in four volumes in 1683 -Biography:...
in neo-Classical style in 1755
- Hôtel de l'Intendance, prefecture palace, from the 18th century, neo-Classical style
- Courthouse, built by Charles-Louis Clérisseau
Charles-Louis Clérisseau was a French architectural draughtsman, antiquary and artist. He had a role in the genesis of neoclassical architecture during the second half of the 18th century....
in neo-Classical style during the 18th century. It is in this building, then the Governor's Palace, that the famous dinner of Metz took place. During the dinner organized by Broglie-RuffecCharles François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec , second son of François-Marie de Broglie, 1st duc de Broglie, was a French soldier and diplomat from a distinguished French military family....
, the duke of GloucesterPrince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh was a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III.-Early life:...
convinced Lafayette that the insurgent's revolt in America was in some measure justified. Lafayette wrote in his memoirs that at this dinner when he "(...) first learned of that quarrel, [his] heart was enlisted and [he] thought only of joining the colours".
- Railway station
-External links:*...
, a 300m long neo-Romanesque building designed by German architect Jurgen KrögerJürgen Kröger was a German architect. He bore the title " Baurat" and is most notable for his Protestant church buildings....
between 1905 and 1908. The station echoes the shape of the church (at the departure hall with the clock tower, said to have been designed by the Kaiser himself) and an imperial palace (at the arrivals hall and the station restaurant), which is a reminder of the religious and temporal powers of the Holy Roman emperors. In the great hallway, the Emperor CharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
is depicted on a stained glass window sitting on his throne. The statue of the Knight RolandRoland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons...
on a corner of the clock tower represents the imperial protection over Metz.
- Central post office, neo-Romanesque building built by German architect Ludwig Bettcher between 1908 and 1911
- Governor's palace (former General-Kommando), built by German architects Schönhals and Stolterfoth between 1902 and 1905 in neo-Flemish style. Once the residence of Emperor Wilhelm II during his visits to Metz, the mansion is used today as the headquarters of the commander in chief of the North-East military region of France.
Military heritage
- City gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. Other terms include port.-Uses:City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods and animals...
s: Porte des Allemands (13th and 15th centuries), Chandellerue gate (13th C), and Serpenoise gate (19th C)
- Ruins of city walls
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
(2nd, 13th, 15th, and 17th centuries from Louis de CormontaigneLouis de Cormontaigne was a French military engineer.He was the successor of Vauban. Together, they designed the fortifications of Metz....
), and supplies shop of the military citadelA citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
from the 16th century (today a luxury hotel called La Citadelle)
- Extensive fortifications of Metz
The Fortifications of Metz, a city in northeastern France, are extensive, due to the city's strategic position near the border of France and Germany. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the area was annexed by the newly created German Empire in 1871 by the Treaty of Frankfurt and became a...
. The fortifications of the first belt include early examples of Séré de Rivières systemThe Séré de Rivières system was an ensemble of fortifications built from 1874 and first used at the beginning of the First World War along the frontiers and coasts of France...
forts (Fort de PlappevilleThe Fort de Plappeville, or Feste Alvensleben, is a military fortification located to the northwest of Metz in the commune of Plappeville. As part of the first ring of the fortifications of Metz, it is an early example of a Séré de Rivières system fort...
, "groupe fortifié du Mont St-Quentin").
- Fort de Queuleu
The Fort de Queuleu is a fortification to the southeast of Metz, near Queuleu, France. Construction began while part of Lorraine was under French rule in 1868. After the interruption of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the fort was improved between 1872 and 1875 by the German Empire , which had...
(19th C), also called the Hell of Queuleu, was used by Germans as a detention and interrogation centre for members of the French ResistanceThe French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
during the Second World War.
- Former arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
built in 1859, today a concert hall dedicated to erudite musics
- War memorial of Paul Niclausse
Paul Niclausse was a French sculptor, most famous for his art deco medals cast in bronze.He was awarded the Legion of Honor. In Paris, he taught at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs and was also a professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.-External...
(1935), art deco sculpture representing a mother cradling the dead body of her son
Public gardens
- Esplanade garden, located close to Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains basilica and the Arsenal
The Arsenal is a cultural venue dedicated specially to Classical and Erudite musics and located near the Esplanade garden in Metz, capital of the Lorraine region, France...
auditorium, a 9,200 m2 (140.5 sq ft) French style gardenThe French formal garden, also called jardin à la française, is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order over nature. It reached its apogee in the 17th century with the creation of the Gardens of Versailles, designed for Louis XIV by the landscape architect André Le...
, offering a commanding view of the Saint-Quentin plateau. On the Esplanade, Philippe PétainHenri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
received his marshal's batonField Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
from President Raymond PoincaréRaymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
and Prime Minister Georges ClémenceauGeorges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the...
in November 1918. The garden also hosted a World FairWorld Fair can refer to:* Expo , a large public exhibition* This World Fair, an American rock band...
in 1861.
- Seille park, located near Centre Pompidou-Metz, is a public garden designed by landscape architect Jacques Coulon
- Marina of the Plan d'Eau Saint-Symphorien
- Régates garden, an English-garden park stretching around the bottom of the ramparts
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
of the old citadel
- Tanneurs garden, gives a commanding view of the city's roofs
- Botanical garden, called jardin botanique de Metz
The Jardin botanique de Metz , also known as the Jardin botanique de la Ville de Metz, is a botanical garden located at 27 ter, rue du Pont-à-Mousson, Montigny-lès-Metz, Moselle, Lorraine, France...
Squares
- Place d'Armes, the town square
A town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, and town green.Most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets,...
surrounded by the city hall and the Saint-Stephen cathedralSaint Étienne de Metz , also known as Metz Cathedral) is a Gothic, Catholic cathedral in the city of Metz, capital of Lorraine, France...
- Chamber square and adjacent Saint-Stephen square, once used as an amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
for Mystery playMystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
s during the Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
- Comedy square, parvise of the opera house. It is the square where the guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
was erected for executions during the French RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
- General de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
square, parvise of the railway station
- Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
's parvise, parvise of the Centre Pompidou-Metz museum
- John Paul II square, parvise of the Saint-Stephen cathedral and the market hall
- Mondon square (former Imperial square), surrounded by the current chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and the former chamber of trade
- Mazelle square, livestock marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
during the Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
- Republic square, adjacent to the Esplanade garden and in the heart of the city, serves as Metz's civic center
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building...
- Saint-Louis
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
square, medieval market squareThe market square is a feature of many European and colonial towns. It is an open area where market stalls are traditionally set out for trading, commonly on one particular day of the week known as market day....
from the 13th C. The alignment of the buildings surrounding the square corresponds to the original Roman ramparts which were used for the actual foundations. During medieval times, the square used to accommodate money changers and also trade fairs and religious theatre plays under the vaulted gallery and arches.
- Saint-Jacques square, located in the commercial and pedestrian historic downtown. The public square is surrounded by busy bars and pubs, whose open-air tables fill the centre of the square.
The Metz School
The Metz School was an art movement in Metz and its region gathering around Laurent-Charles Maréchal between 1834 and 1870. Originally the term was proposed in 1845 by poet
Charles BaudelaireCharles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
, who appreciated the works of the artists. They were influenced by
Eugène DelacroixFerdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
and inspired by the medieval heritage of Metz and its romantic surroundings. The Franco-Prussian War and the annexation of the land by the Germans resulted in the dismantling of the movement. Main figures of Metz School are Laurent-Charles Maréchal, Auguste Migette, Auguste Hussenot, Louis-Théodore Devilly, Christopher Fratin, and Charles Pêtre. Their works encompass paintings, engravings, drawings, stained-glass windows, and sculptures.
Painting and printing
Monsù DesideroFrançois de Nomé was a French painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Naples.- Biography :Born in Metz in the Lorraine region, François de Nomé had moved to Rome by 1602. He often painted under the pseudonym of Monsù Desiderio, which encompassed at least three artists, Nome and his...
represented a general view of the city at the beginning of the 17th century from the high ground of the Bellecroix hill. Painter Auguste Migette created many drawings and sketches showing ancient monuments of the town, as well as monumental paintings representing the most significant moments in local history. He left his works and manuscript to the city and they are today exhibited in the museums of Metz. Also, in his work dedicated to The Beautiful Gallic Cities between the Rhine and Moselle Rivers,
Albert RobidaAlbert Robida was an illustrator, etcher, lithographer, caricaturist, and novelist. He edited and published La Caricature magazine for 12 years. Through the 1880s he wrote an acclaimed trilogy of futuristic novels...
depicted in a lithography the Saint-Stephen cathedral.
Poetry and literature
During the
German annexationThe Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
of the city, French poet
Paul VerlainePaul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
dedicated a poem to his hometown. Making reference to the
BazaineFrançois Achille Bazaine was a French General and from 1864, a Marshal of France, who surrendered the last organized French army to the Prussians during the Franco-Prussian war. He was the first Marshal who had started as a legionnaire and like the great Marshals of the First Empire, he had risen...
's treachery and to the French
revanchismRevanchism is a term used since the 1870s to describe a political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses incurred by a country, often following a war or social movement. Revanchism draws its strength from patriotic and retributionist thought and is often motivated by economic or...
, he wrote:
German author Adrienne Thomas published in 1930 a harsh criticism of the war with the First World War best-seller novel Katrin becomes a soldier . The text is a diaristic novel based on Thomas’s own life, describing her work at the Metz's railway mission and then as a hospital nurse during the war. The work centres upon the area around Metz, then in German territory, and not only poised between France and Germany linguistically and culturally, but very close indeed to the Western Front and on the direct line to
VerdunThe Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...
. The text was banned in Germany during the
Third ReichNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
Music
Metz is the seat of the National Orchestra of Lorraine. Violist, composer Alain Celo has written a piece for
ensembleA musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
entitled The Graoully, Messin dragon. The piece is a musical story with narration depicting the epic fight between Saint Clement and the legendary dragon in the Roman amphitheater.
Like Adrienne Thomas, French singer
Bernard LavilliersBernard Lavilliers is a French singer.He was born Bernard Oulion in Saint-Étienne, Loire.The band Fatals Picards wrote a song Bernard Lavilliers, satirizing Lavilliers' image as a former adventurer.-Discography:...
mentioned the Metz's railway station in his work. In a song entitled Le buffet de la gare de Metz on album Le Stéphanois from 1975, he described the sort of melancholy
TeutonicThe Teutons or Teutones were mentioned as a Germanic tribe by Greek and Roman authors, notably Strabo and Marcus Velleius Paterculus and normally in close connection with the Cimbri, whose ethnicity is contested between Gauls and Germani...
beauty of the building located in the German Imperial District, and the smoky, strange atmosphere of its station restaurant, where "the poetry is there,
VerlainePaul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
resuscitated."
International relations
Metz is a fellow member of the QuattroPole union of cities, along with
LuxembourgThe city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...
,
SaarbrückenSaarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
, and
TrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
(neighbouring countries:
LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, France, and Germany). Metz also forms a central place of the
Greater RegionThe Greater Region is a term used to describe the area of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Wallonia, the French Community of Belgium and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. It is not identical with the SaarLorLux Euregio, being in the same territory.It is situated between...
and of the economic
SaarLorLuxSaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux, , a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine, Luxembourg, is a Euroregion of five different regional authorities located in four different European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of several of these authorities or of their subdivisions, administrations,...
EuroregionEUREGIO is a cross-border region between the Netherlands and Germany. It was founded in 1958 and is organized as an Eingetragener Verein. Participating communities are in Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany and parts of the Dutch provinces Gelderland, Overijssel and Drenthe...
.
Twin towns – Sister cities
Metz is
twinnedTwin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
- Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
, MoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
- Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, since 1957
- Karmiel
Karmiel is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, from Safed and from Acre...
, IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, since 1984 |
YichangYichang is a prefecture-level city located in Hubei province of the People's Republic of China. It is the second largest city in Hubei province after the province capital, Wuhan. The Three Gorges Dam is located within its administrative area, in Yiling District.-History:In ancient times Yichang...
, ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, since 1991
Hradec KrálovéHradec Králové is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Hradec Králové Region of Bohemia. The city's economy is based on food-processing technology, photochemical, and electronics manufacture. Traditional industries include musical instrument manufacturing – the best known being PETROF pianos...
, Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, since 2001
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, since 2003 |
GloucesterGloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
, United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, since 1967
Saint-Denis, RéunionSaint-Denis is the préfecture of the French overseas region and department of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. It is located at the island's northernmost point, close to the mouth of the Rivière Saint-Denis....
, FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Luxembourg City, LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
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