Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
located at the confluence of the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
and the
Seille rivers. Metz is the
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
of the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
and the seat of the parliament of the
Grand Est
Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten;
Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
. Located near the
tripoint
A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...
along the junction of France,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
,
[Says J.M. (2010) La Moselle, une rivière européenne. Eds. Serpenoise. ] the city forms a central place of the European
Greater Region
SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux (also ''SarLorLux'' in French), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, is a euroregion of five regional authorities located in four European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of sev ...
and the
SaarLorLux
SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux (also ''SarLorLux'' in French), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, is a euroregion of five regional authorities located in four European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of sev ...
euroregion
In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two (or more) contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region. ...
.
Metz has a rich 3,000-year history,
[Bour R. (2007) Histoire de Metz, nouvelle édition. Eds. Serpenoise. ] having variously been a
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
''
oppidum
An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
'', an important
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
city,
[Vigneron B. (1986) Metz antique: Divodurum Mediomatricorum. Eds. Maisonneuve. ] the
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
capital of
Austrasia
Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...
,
[Huguenin A. (2011) Histoire du royaume mérovingien d'Austrasie. Eds. des Paraiges. pp. 134,275 ] the birthplace of the
Carolingian dynasty
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
,
[Settipani C. (1989) Les ancêtres de Charlemagne. Ed. Société atlantique d'impression. pp. 3–49 ] a cradle of the
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...
,
[Demollière C.J. (2004) ''L'art du chantre carolingien.'' Eds. Serpenoise. ] and one of the oldest
republics
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
[Roemer F. (2007) ''Les institutions de la République messine.'' Eds. Serpenoise. ] The city has been steeped in
French culture
The culture of France has been shaped by geography, by historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture since the 17th century and from t ...
, but has been strongly influenced by
German culture
The culture of Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. Historically, Germany has been called ''Das Land der Dichter und Denker'' (the country of poets and thinkers). German cultu ...
due to its location and history.
Because of its historical, cultural and architectural background, Metz has been submitted on France's
UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. The city features noteworthy buildings such as the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
Saint-Stephen Cathedral with its largest expanse of stained-glass windows in the world,
[Collectif (2009) Monumental 2009 – semestriel 1. Coll. Monumental. Eds. Guides archeologiques de la France. ] the
Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains
The basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains in Metz, France is one of the oldest churches in Europe.
The building began life in the 4th century when Metz was an important Gallo-Roman city.
History
The building belonged to one of several thermae ...
being the oldest church in France,
[Delestre X. (1988) Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains (Metz – Moselle): de l'époque romaine à l'époque gothique. Eds. Guides archeologiques de la France. ] its
Imperial Station Palace displaying the apartment of the German
Kaiser
''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...
,
[Schontz A. (2008) ''La gare de Metz.'' Eds. Serpenoise. ] or its
Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
, the oldest one working in France.
[Masson G. (2002) ''L'Opéra-théâtre de Metz.'' Ed. Klopp, Gerard. ] Metz is home to some world-class venues including the
Arsenal Concert Hall and the
Centre Pompidou-Metz
The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a museum of Modern art, modern and contemporary art located in Metz, capital of Lorraine (region), Lorraine, France. It is a branch of Centre Georges Pompidou, Pompidou arts centre of Paris, and features semi-permanent ...
museum.
A basin of
urban ecology
Urban ecology is the scientific study of the relation of living organisms with each other and their surroundings in an urban environment. An urban environment refers to environments dominated by high-density residential and commercial buildings ...
,
[Pelt J.M. (1977) ''L'Homme re-naturé.'' Eds. Seuil. ] Metz gained its nickname of
The Green City (), as it has extensive open grounds and public gardens.
The historic city centre is one of the largest commercial pedestrian areas in France.
A historic
garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
town, Metz is the economic heart of the
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
region, specialising in
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
and
automotive industries. Metz is home to the
University of Lorraine
The University of Lorraine (), often abbreviated in UL, is a grand établissement created on 1 January 2012, by the merger of Henri Poincaré University, Nancy 2 University, Paul Verlaine University – Metz and the National Polytechnic Institute ...
,
Georgia Tech Lorraine
Georgia Tech Europe (GTE) is a campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Metz, France and is part of Georgia Tech's International Plan. GTE offers undergraduate and graduate programs in electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engi ...
, and a centre for applied research and development in the materials sector, notably in
metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
and
metallography
Metallography is the study of the physical structure and components of metals, by using microscopy.
Ceramic and polymeric materials may also be prepared using metallographic techniques, hence the terms ceramography, plastography and, collectiv ...
, the heritage of the Lorraine region's past in the iron and steel industry.
Etymology
In ancient times, the town was known as "city of
Mediomatrici
The Mediomatrici (Gaulish: ''*Medio-māteres'') were according to Caesar a Gaulish tribe at the frontier to the Belgicae dwelling in the present-day regions Lorraine, Upper Moselle during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are ment ...
", being inhabited by the tribe of the same name.
[Martin P. (2010) ''Metz, 2000 years of history.'' Eds. Serpenoise. pp. 8–9] After its integration into the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, the city was called ''Divodurum Mediomatricum'', meaning Holy Village or Holy Fortress of the Mediomatrici, then it was known as ''Mediomatrix''.
During the 5th century AD, the name evolved to "Mettis", which gave rise to the current spelling, Metz,
but also spellings such as ''Mès'', which are no longer used, but reflect its actual pronunciation in French (like "mess").
[.]
History
![Henri2entranceMetz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Henri2entranceMetz.jpg)
Metz has a recorded history dating back over 2,000 years. Before the
conquest of Gaul
The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their homela ...
by
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
in 52 BC, it was the
oppidum
An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
of the
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
ic
Mediomatrici
The Mediomatrici (Gaulish: ''*Medio-māteres'') were according to Caesar a Gaulish tribe at the frontier to the Belgicae dwelling in the present-day regions Lorraine, Upper Moselle during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Name
They are ment ...
tribe.
Integrated into the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, Metz became quickly one of the principal towns of
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
with a population of 40,000,
until the
barbarian
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...
depredations and its transfer to the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
about the end of the 5th century.
Between the 6th and 8th centuries, the city was the residence of the
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
kings of
Austrasia
Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...
.
After the
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Francia, Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three ...
in 843, Metz became the capital of the
Kingdom of Lotharingia
Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...
and was ultimately integrated into the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
, being granted semi-independent status.
During the 12th century, Metz became a
republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
and the
Republic of Metz
Metz, the capital and the prefecture of the Moselle department in France, has a recorded history dating back over 2,000 years. During this time, it was successively a Celtic oppidum, an important Gallo-Roman city,Vigneron B. (1986) Metz antique: Di ...
stood until the 15th century.
With the signature of the
Treaty of Chambord
The 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 o ...
in 1552, Metz passed into the hands of the
Kings of France
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...
.
As the German Protestant Princes who traded Metz (alongside Toul and Verdun) for the promise of French military assistance, had no authority to cede territory of the Holy Roman Empire, the change of jurisdiction was not recognised by the Holy Roman Empire until the
Treaty of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peac ...
in 1648. Under French rule, Metz was selected as capital of the
Three Bishoprics
The Three Bishoprics (french: les Trois-Évêchés ) constituted a government of the Kingdom of France consisting of the dioceses of Metz, Verdun, and Toul within the Lorraine region. The three dioceses had been Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Ro ...
and became a strategic fortified town.
[Vigneron B. (2010) Le dernier siècle de la république de Metz. Eds. du Panthéon. ] With creation of the
departments by the
Estates-General of 1789
The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom o ...
, Metz was chosen as capital of the
Department of Moselle.
Although largely French-speaking, after the
Franco-Prussian War and according to the
Treaty of Frankfurt of 1871, the city became part of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, being part of the Imperial Territory of
Alsace-Lorraine and serving as capital of the
Bezirk Lothringen
Bezirk Lothringen (today's french: link=no, Présidence de la Lorraine, at the time translated into french: link=no, Département de la Lorraine i.e. Department of Lorraine), also called German Lorraine (''Deutsch Lothringen''), was a governmen ...
.
Metz remained German until the end of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when it reverted to France.
[Berrar J.C. (2009) Metz, retour à la France. Eds. Serpenoise. ] However, after the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the city was annexed by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
.
In 1944, the
attack on the city by the
U.S. Third Army
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...
removed the city from German rule and Metz reverted one more time to France after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
During the 1950s, Metz was chosen to be the capital of the newly created
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
.
[Roth F. (2012) Histoire politique de la Lorraine, de 1900 à nos jours. Eds. Serpenoise. ] With the creation of the
European Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
and the later
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, the city has become central to the
Greater Region
SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux (also ''SarLorLux'' in French), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, is a euroregion of five regional authorities located in four European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of sev ...
and the
SaarLorLux
SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux (also ''SarLorLux'' in French), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, is a euroregion of five regional authorities located in four European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of sev ...
Euroregion
In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two (or more) contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region. ...
.
Geography
Metz is located on the banks of the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
and the
Seille rivers, from the
Schengen
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
tripoint
A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...
where the borders of France, Germany and Luxembourg meet.
The city was built in a place where many branches of the Moselle river creates several islands, which are encompassed within the urban planning.
The terrain of Metz forms part of the
Paris Basin
The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France. It developed since the Triassic over remnant uplands of the Variscan orogeny (Hercynian orogeny). The sedimentary basin, no longer a single drainage basin, is a large sag in the cr ...
and presents a plateau relief cut by river valleys presenting
cuesta
A cuesta (from Spanish ''cuesta'' "slope") is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer layer ...
s in the north–south direction. Metz and its surrounding countryside are included in the forest and crop
Lorraine Regional Natural Park
Lorraine Regional Natural Park (French language, French: ''Parc naturel régional de Lorraine'') is a protected area of pastoral countryside in the Grand Est Regions of France, region of northeastern France, in the historic region of Lorraine. Th ...
, covering a total area of .
Climate
The climate of
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
is a
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
. The summers are warm and humid, sometimes stormy, and the warmest month of the year is July, when daytime temperatures average approximately . The winters are cold and snowy with temperature dropping to an average low of in January. Lows can be much colder through the night and early morning and the snowy period extends from November to February.
The length of the day varies significantly over the course of the year.
The shortest day is 21 December with 7:30 hours of sunlight; the longest day is 20 June with 16:30 hours of sunlight. The median cloud cover is 93% and does not vary substantially over the course of the year.
Demographics
Population
The inhabitants of Metz are called ''Messin(e)s''. Statistics on the ethnic and religious make up of the population of Metz are haphazard, as the
French Republic
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
prohibits making distinctions between citizens regarding race, beliefs, and political and philosophic opinions in the process of census taking.
The French national
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2018 estimated the population of Metz to be 116,581, while the population of Metz
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
was about 368,000.
Through history, Metz's population has been impacted by the vicissitudes of the wars and annexations involving the city, which have prevented continuous population growth. More recently, the city has suffered from the restructuring of the military and the metallurgy industry. The historical population for the current area of Metz municipality is as follows:
Notable people
Several well-known figures have been linked to the city of Metz throughout its history. Renowned ''Messins'' include poet
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international and ...
,
composer
Ambroise Thomas
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas ''Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet'' (1868).
Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de ...
and mathematician
Jean-Victor Poncelet
Jean-Victor Poncelet (; 1 July 1788 – 22 December 1867) was a French engineer and mathematician who served most notably as the Commanding General of the École Polytechnique. He is considered a reviver of projective geometry, and his work ''Tr ...
; numerous well-known German figures were also born in Metz notably during the annexation periods. Moreover, the city has been the residence of people such as writer
François Rabelais
François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and ...
,
Cardinal Mazarin
Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...
, political thinker
Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his works ...
, artist and the inventor of the motion picture camera
Louis Le Prince
Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince (28 August 1841 – disappeared 16 September 1890, declared dead 16 September 1897) was a French artist and the inventor of an early motion-picture camera, possibly the first person to shoot a moving picture sequ ...
, French patriot and American Revolutionary War hero Marquis
Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
, and Luxembourg-born German-French statesman
Robert Schuman
Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman (; 29 June 18864 September 1963) was a Luxembourg-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat (Popular Republican Movement) political thinker and activist. Twice Prime Minister of France, a ref ...
.
Law and government
Local law
The ''local law'' () applied in Metz is a legal system that operates in parallel with
French law
The Law of France refers to the legal system in the French Republic, which is a civil law legal system primarily based on legal codes and statutes, with case law also playing an important role. The most influential of the French legal codes is ...
. Created in 1919, it preserves the French laws applied in France before 1870 and maintained by the Germans during the annexation of
Alsace-Lorraine, but repealed in the rest of France after 1871. It also maintains German laws enacted by the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
between 1871 and 1918, specific provisions adopted by the local authorities, and French laws that have been enacted after 1919 to be applicable only in
Alsace-Lorraine. This specific local legislation encompasses different areas including religion, social work and finance.
The most striking of the legal differences between France and
Alsace-Lorraine is the absence in Alsace-Lorraine of strict
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
, even though a constitutional right of
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
is guaranteed by the French government. Alsace-Lorraine is still governed by a pre-
1905 law established by the
Concordat of 1801
The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801 in Paris. It remained in effect until 1905, except in Alsace-Lorraine, where it remains in force. It sought national reconciliation b ...
, which provides for the public subsidy of the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
,
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
and
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
churches and the
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
religion.
Administration
![Place darmes (3658773965)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Place_darmes_%283658773965%29.jpg)
Like every commune of the present
French Republic
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, Metz is managed by a mayor () and a municipal council (), democratically elected by
two-round proportional voting
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
for six years. The mayor is assisted by 54 municipal councillors, and the municipal council is held on the last Thursday of every month. Since 2008, the mayor of Metz has been
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
Dominique Gros.
The city belongs to the Metz Metropole union of cities, which includes the 40 cities of the Metz
urban agglomeration
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
. Metz is the
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
of the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
based in the former
Intendant
An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
Palace.
In addition, Metz is the seat of the parliament of the
Grand Est
Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten;
Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administrat ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
, hosted in the former
Saint-Clement Abbey.
City administrative divisions
The city of Metz is divided into 14 administrative divisions:
Cityscape and environmental policy
![Metz, street in old city](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Metz%2C_street_in_old_city.jpg)
Metz contains a mishmash of architectural layers, bearing witness to centuries of history at the crossroads of different cultures, and features a number of architectural landmarks.
[Hubert P. (2004) Metz, ville d'architectures. Ed. Domini, Serge. ; pp. 164–165 ] The city possesses one of the largest
Urban Conservation Areas in France, and more than
100 of the city's buildings are classified on the
Monument Historique
''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...
list. Because of its historical and cultural background, Metz is designated as
French Town of Art and History, and has been submitted on to France's
UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
The city is famous for its yellow limestone architecture, a result of the extensive use of
Jaumont stone.
The historic district has kept part of the
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
city with Divodurum's
Cardo
A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street ...
Maximus, then called Via Scarponensis (today the Trinitaires, Taison and Serpenoise streets), and the
Decumanus Maximus
In Roman urban planning, a decumanus was an east–west-oriented road in a Roman city or castrum (military camp). The main decumanus of a particular city was the Decumanus Maximus, or most often simply "the Decumanus". In the rectangular street gr ...
(today En Fournirue and d'Estrées streets). At the Cardo and Decumanus
intersection
In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...
was situated the
Roman forum
The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...
, today the
Saint-Jacques Square.
Architecture
From its
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
past, the city preserves vestiges of the
thermae
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
(in the basement of the
Golden Courtyard museum), parts of the
aqueduct,
[Collectif (2006) L'aqueduc antique de Gorze à Metz. Moselle 119. Coll. Itinéraires du patrimoine. Eds. Serpenoise. ] and the
Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains
The basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains in Metz, France is one of the oldest churches in Europe.
The building began life in the 4th century when Metz was an important Gallo-Roman city.
History
The building belonged to one of several thermae ...
.
Saint Louis' square with its vaulted arcades and a
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
chapel remains a major symbol of the city's
High Medieval
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 1500 ...
heritage. The
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
Saint-Stephen Cathedral, several churches and
Hôtels, and two remarkable municipal
granaries
A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...
reflect the
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...
.
Examples of
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
architecture can be seen in Hôtels from the 16th century, such as the House of Heads ().
The city hall and the buildings surrounding the
town square
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...
are by French architect
Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel (8 January 1705 – 9 January 1774) was an 18th-century French architect and teacher. After running his own highly successful school of architecture for many years, he was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Acad ...
, who was awarded the task of redesigning and modernizing the centre of Metz by the
Royal Academy of Architecture in 1755 the context of the
Enlightenment.
Neoclassical buildings from the 18th century, such as the
Opera House
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
,
the
Intendant
An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...
Palace (the present-day
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
), and the Royal Governor's Palace (the present-day
courthouse
A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...
) built by
Charles-Louis Clérisseau Charles-Louis Clérisseau (28 August 1721 – 9 January 1820) was a French architect, draughtsman, antiquary, and artist who became a leading authority on ancient Roman architecture and Roman ruins in Italy and France. With his influence extending t ...
, are also found in the city.
The Imperial District was built during the first annexation of Metz by the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
.
[Pignon-Feller C. (2005) Metz 1848–1918. Eds. Serpenoise. ] In order to "germanise" the city,
Emperor Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empi ...
decided to create a new district shaped by a distinctive blend of Germanic architecture, including Renaissance, neo-Romanesque and neo-Classical, mixed with elements of
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
,
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
, Alsatian and mock-Bavarian styles.
Instead of
Jaumont stone, commonly used everywhere else in the city, stone used in the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
, such as pink and grey
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
,
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
were used.
The district features noteworthy buildings including the
rail station
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
and the Central Post Office by German architect
Jürgen Kröger
Jürgen Kröger (16 November 1856 in Haale, Germany – 27 February 1928 in Aukrug) was a German architect, active from 1880 to 1920. He bore the title "(kaiserlicher) Baurat" in 1908, and was an architectural advisor to German Emperor Wilhelm I ...
.
Modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
can also be seen in the town with works of French architects
Roger-Henri Expert
Roger-Henri Expert (18 April 1882 – 13 April 1955) 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 École nationale supérieure des Be ...
(Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus church, 1934),
Georges-Henri Pingusson
Georges-Henri Pingusson (July 26, 1894 – October 22, 1978) was a French architect.
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 ''La ...
(Fire Station, 1960) and
Jean Dubuisson (
subdivisions
Subdivision may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Subdivision (metre), in music
* ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009
* "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2)
* ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005
* "Subdivisions" (song), by Rush ...
, 1960s).
[Expert R.H. Roger-Henri Expert, 1882–1955. Volume 3 de Institut français d'architecture. Eds. du Moniteur. ] The refurbishment of the former
Ney Arsenal as a Concert Hall in 1989 and the erection of the
Metz Arena in 2002, by Spanish and French architects
Ricardo Bofill
Ricardo Bofill Leví (; 5 December 1939 – 14 January 2022) was a Spanish architect from Catalonia. He founded Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in 1963 and developed it into a leading international architectural and urban design practice. ...
and French
Paul Chemetov represent the
Postmodern movement
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
.
The
Centre Pompidou-Metz
The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a museum of Modern art, modern and contemporary art located in Metz, capital of Lorraine (region), Lorraine, France. It is a branch of Centre Georges Pompidou, Pompidou arts centre of Paris, and features semi-permanent ...
museum in the Amphitheatre District represents a strong architectural initiative to mark the entrance of Metz into the 21st century.
[Jodidio P. (2010) Shigeru Ban, complete works 1985–2010. Ed. Jodidio, Philip. pp. 426–447] Designed by Japanese architect
Shigeru Ban
[Biography](_blank)
, The Hyatt Foundation, retrieved 26 March 2014 is a Japanese architect, known for his i ...
, the building is remarkable for the complex, innovative carpentry of its roof, and integrates concepts of
sustainable architecture
Sustainable architecture is architecture that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings through improved efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, development space and the ecosystem at large. Sustainable ...
. The project encompasses the architecture of two recipients of the
Pritzker Architecture Prize
The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...
, Shigeru Ban (2014) and French
Christian de Portzamparc
Christian de Portzamparc (; born 5 May 1944) is a French architect and urbanist.
He graduated from the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1970 and has since been noted for his bold designs and artistic touch; his projects reflect a ...
(1994). The Amphitheatre District is also conceived by French architects
Nicolas Michelin,
Jean-Paul Viguier
Jean-Paul Viguier (born 4 May 1946) is a French architect. He is considered one of the world's leading architects and one of the few French ones to work extensively outside of Europe.
Early works
Graduated from the École nationale supérieure ...
and
Jean-Michel Wilmotte
Jean-Michel Wilmotte (born 1948 in Soissons) is a French architect.
Biography
Jean-Michel Wilmotte studied interior design at the Camondo school of interior design in Paris. Just two years after graduating, he founded his own agency in Paris in ...
, and designer
Philippe Starck
Philippe Starck (; born 18 January 1949) is a French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles.
Life
Starck was born on ...
.
The urban project is expected to be completed by 2023.
Further, a contemporary music venue designed by
contextualist
Contextualism, also known as epistemic contextualism, is a family of views in philosophy which emphasize the ''context'' in which an action, utterance, or expression occurs. Proponents of contextualism argue that, in some important respect, the a ...
French architect
Rudy Ricciotti
Rudy Ricciotti (born 22 August 1952) is a French architect and publisher.Lanie GoodmanGround Breaker ''The New York Times'', September 17, 2012 stands in the Borny District.
Urban ecology
![Metz R03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Metz_R03.jpg)
Under the leadership of such people as botanist
Jean-Marie Pelt
Jean-Marie Pelt (24 October 1933 – 23 December 2015) was a French biologist, botanist and pharmacist with degrees in both biology and pharmacy.
He was professor at the University of Lorraine, specializing in medicinal plants and traditional p ...
, Metz pioneered a policy of
urban ecology
Urban ecology is the scientific study of the relation of living organisms with each other and their surroundings in an urban environment. An urban environment refers to environments dominated by high-density residential and commercial buildings ...
during the early 1970s.
Because of the failure of
post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
urban planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
and
housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States a ...
development in Europe during the 1960s, mostly based on the concepts of
CIAM, Jean-Marie Pelt, then municipal councillor of Metz, initiated a new approach to the urban environment.
Based initially on the ideas of the
Chicago School, Pelt's theories pleaded for better integration of humans into their environment and developed a concept centered on the relationship between "stone and water".
His policy was realized in Metz by the establishment of extensive open areas surrounding the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
and the
Seille rivers and the development of large pedestrian areas. As a result, Metz has over of open areas per inhabitant in the form of numerous public gardens in the city.
The principles of urban ecology are still applied in Metz with the implementation of a local
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action age ...
action plan.
The municipal ecological policy encompasses the
sustainable refurbishment
Sustainable refurbishment describes working on existing buildings to improve their environmental performance using sustainable methods and materials. A refurbishment or retrofit is defined as: “any work to a building over and above maintenance to ...
of ancient buildings, the erection of
sustainable districts and buildings,
green public transport, and the creation of public gardens by means of
landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
.
Additionally, the city has developed its own
combined heat and power station, using waste wood
biomass
Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...
from the surrounding forests as a
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
source. With a thermal efficiency above 80%, the 45MW
boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
of the plant provides electricity and heat for 44,000
dwelling
In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence or an abode) is a self-contained unit of accommodation used by one or more households as a home - such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, vehicle, or other "substantial" structure. The ...
s. The Metz power station is the first local producer and distributor of energy in France.
Military architecture
![Metz Porte des Allemands R06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Metz_Porte_des_Allemands_R06.jpg)
As a historic
Garrison
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
town, Metz has been heavily influenced by military architecture throughout its history.
From
ancient history
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
to the present, the city has been successively fortified and modified to accommodate the troops stationed there.
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
s from
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
to the 20th century are still visible today, incorporated into the design of public gardens along the Moselle and Seille rivers.
A medieval
bridge castle
A bridge castle (german: Brückenburg) is a type of castle that was built to provide military observation and security for a river crossing. In the narrower sense it refers to castles that are built directly on or next to a bridge. Sometimes, ...
from the 13th century, named
Germans' Gate
The Germans' Gate (french: Porte des Allemands ) is a medieval bridge castle and city gate in Metz, France. It is "a relic of the medieval fortifications, with two 13th c. round towers and two gun bastions of the 15th c." It is a ''monument histori ...
(), today converted into a convention and exhibition centre, has become one of the landmarks of the city. It is still possible to see parts of the 16th century
citadel
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
In ...
, as well as fortifications built in the 1740s by
Louis de Cormontaigne
Louis de Cormontaigne (, 1696-1752) was a French military engineer, who was the dominant technical influence on French fortifications in the 18th century. His own designs and writings constantly referenced the work of Vauban (1633-1707) and hi ...
but based on designs by
Vauban.
[Halleck W., Halleck H.W., and Halleck H. (2009) Elements of military art and science. Ed. Applewood Books. ] Important barracks, mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, are spread around the city: some, which are of architectural interest, have been converted to civilian use, such as the
Arsenal Concert Hall by Spanish architect
Ricardo Bofill
Ricardo Bofill Leví (; 5 December 1939 – 14 January 2022) was a Spanish architect from Catalonia. He founded Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in 1963 and developed it into a leading international architectural and urban design practice. ...
.
The 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 ...
, which ring the city, include early examples of
Séré de Rivières system
The system was named after Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières, its originator. The system was an ensemble of fortifications built from 1874 along the frontiers and coasts of France. The fortresses were obsolescent by 1914 but were used during ...
forts. Other forts were incorporated into the
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force the ...
. A hiking trail on the Saint-Quentin plateau passes through a former military training zone and ends at the now abandoned military forts, providing a vantage point from which to survey the city.
Economy
![Rue Serpenoise Metz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Rue_Serpenoise_Metz.JPG)
Although the
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
industry has historically dominated Moselle's economy, Metz's efforts at economic diversification have created a base in the sectors of
commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
,
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
,
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
and the
automotive industry. The city is the economic heart of the Lorraine region and around 73,000 people work daily within the
urban agglomeration
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
. The transport facilities found in the conurbation, including the international
high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
way,
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
,
inland
Inland may refer to:
Places Sweden
* Inland Fräkne Hundred, a hundred of Bohuslän in Sweden
* Inland Northern Hundred, a hundred of Bohuslän in Sweden
* Inland Southern Hundred, a hundred of Bohuslän in Sweden
* Inland Torpe Hundred, a hundred ...
connections and the local
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
system, have made the city a transport hub in the heart of the European Union. Metz is home to the biggest harbour handling
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
s in France with over 4,000,000 tons/year.
Metz is home to the Moselle
Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, 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 ad ...
. International companies such as
PSA Peugeot Citroën
The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...
,
ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...
,
SFR
SFR (; ''Société française du radiotéléphone'', ) is a French telecommunications company.
As of December 2015, it had 21.9 million customers in Metropolitan France for mobile services, and provided 6.35 million households with high-spee ...
and
TDF have established plants and centres in the Metz conurbation. Metz is also the regional headquarters of the
Caisse d'Epargne
Caisse, a French word, may refer to:
*Caisse Desjardins, an association of credit unions in Quebec
*Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears, a road-bicycle racing team
*Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a public pension fund in Quebec
*Caisse nati ...
and
Banque Populaire
Groupe Banque Populaire ("People's Bank") was a French group of cooperative banks. The central entity was controlled by 15 independent regional banks and also operated under the CASDEN and the Crédit Coopératif subsidiaries.
In 2006, Groupe Ba ...
banking groups.
Metz is an important commercial centre of northern France with France's biggest retailer federation, consisting of around 2,000 retailers. Important
retail
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
companies are found in the city, such as the
Galeries Lafayette
The Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates in a number of other locations in France and othe ...
, the
Printemps
Printemps (; meaning "spring (season), springtime" in French language, French) is a French department store chain (french: grand magasin, links=no, literally "big store"). The Printemps stores focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories ...
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
and the
Fnac
Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling cultural and electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviation of Fédération Nationale d ...
entertainment retail chain. The historic city centre displays one of the largest commercial pedestrian areas in France and a mall, the Saint-Jacques centre. In addition there are several multiplex movie theatres and malls found in the urban agglomeration.
In recent years, Metz municipality have promoted an ambitious policy of tourism development, including urban revitalization and refurbishment of buildings and public squares. This policy has been spurred by the creation of the
Centre Pompidou-Metz
The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a museum of Modern art, modern and contemporary art located in Metz, capital of Lorraine (region), Lorraine, France. It is a branch of Centre Georges Pompidou, Pompidou arts centre of Paris, and features semi-permanent ...
in 2010. Since its inauguration, the institution has become the most popular cultural venue in France outside Paris, with 550,000 visitors per year. Meanwhile,
Saint-Stephen Cathedral is the most visited building in the city, accommodating 652,000 visitors per year.
Culture
Museums and exhibition halls
![Fireworks Saint Nicholas celebrations, Metz 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Fireworks_Saint_Nicholas_celebrations%2C_Metz_2011.jpg)
* The
Centre Pompidou-Metz
The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a museum of Modern art, modern and contemporary art located in Metz, capital of Lorraine (region), Lorraine, France. It is a branch of Centre Georges Pompidou, Pompidou arts centre of Paris, and features semi-permanent ...
is a museum of
modern and contemporary arts, the largest temporary exhibition area in France outside Paris. The museum features exhibitions from the extensive collection of the
Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...
, Europe's largest collection of 20th-century art.
*
Saint Stephen's Cathedral is the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
cathedral of the city built during the 13th century.
The cathedral exhibits the collection of the
Bishopric of Metz
The Bishopric of Metz was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. It was one of the Three Bishoprics that were annexed by France in 1552. The Bishops of Metz had already ruled over a significant amount of territories within the former Kingd ...
, including
parament
Paraments or parements (from Late Latin ''paramentum'', adornment, ''parare'', to prepare, equip) are both the hangings or ornaments of a room of state, and the ecclesiastical vestments. Paraments include the liturgical hangings on and around the ...
s and items used in the service of the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
. Metz Cathedral is sometimes nicknamed the Good Lord's Lantern (), as it has the largest expanse of stained glass windows in the world: . These include works by
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
and
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
master glass makers
Hermann von Münster
Hermann von Münster (c. 1330 – March 1392) was a German master glassmaker, native of Münster, in Westphalia, and active in Lorraine.
Biography
Hermman von Münster is actually the first stained glass artist to be mentioned by the archives ...
, Théobald of Lixheim and
Valentin Bousch
Valentin Bousch (circa 1490 – August 1541) was a Renaissance stained glass glazier and painter from Strasbourg, active in the Duchy of Lorraine and the Republic of Metz. A rarity among stained glass artists, Bousch is seen as one who acti ...
,
romantic Charles-Laurent Maréchal
Self-portrait on glass Window
Charles-Laurent Maréchal (27 January 1801 – 17 January 1887) was a French painter.
Biography
Maréchal was born of poor parents at Metz in 1801.Maréchal ogeneanet.org/ref> He was brought up as a saddler, but h ...
,
tachist Roger Bissière
Roger Bissière (22 September 1886 – 2 December 1964) was a French artist. He designed stained glass windows for Metz cathedral and several other churches.
Biography
Roger Bissière was born 22 September 1886 in Villeréal, Lot-et- ...
,
cubist
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
Jacques Villon
Jacques Villon (July 31, 1875 – June 9, 1963), also known as Gaston Duchamp, was a French Cubist and abstract painter and printmaker.
Early life
Born Émile Méry Frédéric Gaston Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in Normandy, France, he came ...
and
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
.
* Another of the city's churches displays a complete set of stained glass windows by French
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...
.
In addition, Metz features other museums and exhibition venues, such as:
* The
FRAC Lorraine
The Frac Lorraine, also known as 49 Nord 6 Est, is a public collection of contemporary art of the Grand Est region in France. It is located in Metz.
History
Regional collections of contemporary art (Fracs) were created in 1982 by the French Mi ...
, a public collection of
contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...
of the
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
region. It is located in the 12th-century Saint-Liver
Hôtel and organizes exhibitions of local and international contemporary artists.
* The
Golden Courtyard (), a museum dedicated to the history of Metz, divided into four sections (e.g. archeology, medieval, architecture and fine arts).
The Golden Courtyard displays a rich collection of Gallo-Roman and medieval finds and the remains of the Gallo-Roman baths of ''Divodurum Mediomatricum'', revealed by the extension works to the museums in the 1930s.
* The Museum of the 1870 War and of the Annexion in
Gravelotte
Gravelotte (; german: Gravelotte) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, 11 km west of Metz. It is part of the functional area (''aire d'attraction'') of Metz. Its population is 827 (2019).
From 1871 u ...
, a village located within the Metz-Metropole conurbation and the site of the
Battle of Gravelotte
The Battle of Gravelotte (or Battle of Gravelotte–St. Privat) on 18 August 1870 was the largest battle of the Franco-Prussian War. Named after Gravelotte, a village in Lorraine, it was fought about west of Metz, where on the previous day, ha ...
, the only museum in Europe dedicated to the
Franco-Prussian War. The museum exhibits military and everyday items from the period as well as artworks related to the 1870 war. A mausoleum erected in 1904 honoring the soldiers who died during the battle, the Memorial Hall (), has been included in the museum.
* The House for Europe, located on the estate of
Robert Schuman
Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman (; 29 June 18864 September 1963) was a Luxembourg-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat (Popular Republican Movement) political thinker and activist. Twice Prime Minister of France, a ref ...
in
Scy-Chazelles
Scy-Chazelles (; german: Sigach) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The town is built on Mont St. Quentin near Metz.
History
The historical area of Scy-Chazelles was shared between the Gorze Abbey, the ...
in the Metz-Metropole conurbation, transformed into a museum and convention centre. Across the street is the fortified 12th Century church where Robert Schuman now rests. The Robert Schuman House for Europe organises cultural and educational events that introduce the visitor to Schuman's life and works and to the way Europe has been constructed and continues to develop today.
* Verlaine's House () is a museum located in the house where the poet
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international and ...
was born, dedicated to his work, featuring permanent and temporary exhibitions.
The
Solange Bertrand foundation, located in the artist's former house, conserves and displays her artworks. The municipal archives preserve and exhibit Metz's historical municipal records dating from medieval times to the present.
Entertainment and performing arts
Metz has several venues for the performing arts. The
Opera House of Metz, the oldest working
opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
in France, features plays, dance and lyric poetry. The
Arsenal Concert Hall, dedicated to
art music
Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...
, is widely renowned for its excellent acoustics. The Trinitarians Club is a multi-media arts complex housed in the vaulted cellar and chapel of an ancient convent, the city's prime venue for
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
music. The Music Box (), familiarly known as BAM, is the concert venue dedicated to rock and electronic music. The Braun Hall and the
Koltès Theater feature plays, and the city has two
movie theater
A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
s specializing in
Auteur cinema. The
Saint-Jacques Square, surrounded by busy bars and pubs whose open-air tables fill the centre of the square.
Since 2014, the former bus garage has been converted to accommodate over thirty artists in residence, in a space where they can create and rehearse artworks and even build set decorations. The artistic complex, called Metz Network of All Cultures () and familiarly known as TCRM-Blida, encompasses a large hall of while theater and dance companies benefit from a studio of with backstages.
Metz in the arts
Metz was an important cultural centre during the
Carolingian Renaissance
The Carolingian Renaissance was the first of three medieval renaissances, a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire. It occurred from the late 8th century to the 9th century, taking inspiration from the State church of the Roman Emp ...
.
For instance,
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...
was created in Metz during the 8th century as a fusion of Gallican and ancient Roman repertory. Then called Messin Chant, it remains the oldest form of music still in use in Western Europe. The bishops of Metz, notably
Saint-Chrodegang promoted its use for the Roman liturgy in Gallic lands under the favorable influence of the Carolingian monarchs. Messin chant made two major contributions to the body of chant: it fitted the chant into the ancient Greek
octoechos
Oktōēchos (here transcribed "Octoechos"; Greek: ;The feminine form exists as well, but means the book octoechos. from ὀκτώ "eight" and ἦχος "sound, mode" called echos; Slavonic: Осмогласие, ''Osmoglasie'' from о́см ...
system, and invented an innovative
musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...
, using
neume
A neume (; sometimes spelled neum) is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of five-line staff notation.
The earliest neumes were inflective marks that indicated the general shape but not ne ...
s to show the shape of a remembered melody. Metz was also an important centre of
illumination of
Carolingian manuscripts, producing such monuments of Carolingian book illumination as the
Drogo Sacramentary
The Drogo Sacramentary (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de FranceMS lat. 9428 is a Carolingian illuminated manuscript on vellum from 850 AD, one of the monuments of Carolingian book illumination. It is a sacramentary, a book containing all th ...
.
The
Metz School () was an art movement in Metz and the region between 1834 and 1870, centred on
Charles-Laurent Maréchal
Self-portrait on glass Window
Charles-Laurent Maréchal (27 January 1801 – 17 January 1887) was a French painter.
Biography
Maréchal was born of poor parents at Metz in 1801.Maréchal ogeneanet.org/ref> He was brought up as a saddler, but h ...
.
[Livre Groupe (2010) École de Metz: Christophe Fratin, Charles-Franois Champigneulle, Laurent-Charles Marechal, Louis-Theodore Devilly, Auguste Migette. Eds. Books LLC. ] The term was originally proposed in 1845 by the poet
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...
, who appreciated the works of the artists. They were influenced by
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...
and inspired by the medieval heritage of Metz and its romantic surroundings.
The Franco-Prussian War and the annexation of the territory by the Germans resulted in the dismantling of the movement. The main figures of the Metz School were
Charles-Laurent Maréchal
Self-portrait on glass Window
Charles-Laurent Maréchal (27 January 1801 – 17 January 1887) was a French painter.
Biography
Maréchal was born of poor parents at Metz in 1801.Maréchal ogeneanet.org/ref> He was brought up as a saddler, but h ...
,
Auguste Migette
Charles Joseph Auguste Migette (1802 – 1884) was a French artist. A leader of the Metz School style of painting, he was a painter, stage designer, and art teacher.
Life and career
Migette was born 18 June 1802 in Trier in what was then the Sar ...
, ,
Louis-Théodore Devilly
Louis-Théodore Devilly (28 October 1818, Metz24 December 1886, Nancy) was a French painter who specialized in military and Orientalist scenes; associated with the .
Biography
He came from a family of booksellers.André Bellard :"Laurent-Char ...
,
Christophe Fratin
Christopher Fratin (1 January 1801 – 16 August 1864), also known as Christophe Fratin, was a noted French sculptor in the animalier style, and one of the earliest French sculptors to portray animals in bronze.
Early life
Fratin was born in Me ...
and .
Their works include paintings, engravings, drawings, stained-glass windows and sculptures.
A festival named "passages" takes place in May. Numerous shows are presented to it.
Graoully dragon as symbol of the city
The Graoully is depicted as a fearsome dragon, vanquished by the sacred powers of
Saint Clement of Metz
Saint Clement of Metz ( la, Clemens de Metiae; french: Clément de Metz) is venerated as the first Bishop of Metz. According to tradition, he was sent by Saint Peter to Metz during the 1st century, with two disciples: Celestius (''Céleste de Metz ...
, the first Bishop of the city. The Graoully quickly became a symbol of Metz and can be seen in numerous insignia of the city, from the 10th century on.
[Bellard A. (1966) Le Graoully de Metz à la lumière de la paléontologie. Ed. Mémoires de l'Académie de Metz. ] Writers from Metz tend to present the legend as an allegory of Christianity's victory over
paganism
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...
, represented by the harmful dragon.
Cuisine
Local specialties include the
quiche
Quiche ( ) is a French tart consisting of pastry crust filled with savoury custard and pieces of cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. A well-known variant is quiche Lorraine, which includes lardons or bacon. Quiche may be served hot, warm or co ...
, the
potée
A ''potée'' is a French culinary term which, in general, refers to any preparation 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 ''chou ...
, the Lorrain
pâté
''Pâté'' ( , , ) is a paste, pie or loaf filled with a forcemeat. Common forcemeats include ground meat from pork, poultry, fish or beef; fat, vegetables, herbs, spices and either wine or brandy (often cognac or armagnac). It is often served ...
and also
suckling pig
A suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother's milk (i.e., a piglet which is still a " suckling"). In culinary contexts, a suckling pig is slaughtered between the ages of two and six weeks. It is traditionally cooked whole, often roasted, in ...
.
[Sassi J. (2002) Cuisine, terroir et traditions de Moselle. Eds. Serpenoise. ] Different recipes, such as jam, tart,
charcuterie
Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, ''galantines'', ''balloti ...
and
fruit brandy
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
, are made from the
Mirabelle
Mirabelle plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''syriaca'') is a cultivar group of plum trees of the genus ''Prunus''. It is believed that the plum was cultivated from a wild fruit grown in Anatolia.
Description
The mirabelle is identified by it ...
and
Damson
The damson () or damson plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''insititia'', or sometimes ''Prunus insititia''),M. H. Porche"Sorting ''Prunus'' names" in "Multilingual multiscript plant names database, University of Melbourne. Plantnames.unimelb.ed ...
plums.
Also, Metz is the cradle of some
pastries
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ma ...
like the Metz cheese pie and the Metz Balls (), a ganache-stuffed biscuit coated with
marzipan
Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract.
It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...
, caramel and dark chocolate.
Local beverages include
Moselle wine
Moselle wine is produced in three countries along the river Moselle: France, Luxembourg (the Musel) and Germany (the Mosel). Moselle wines are mainly white and are made in some of the coldest climates used for commercial winemaking.
France
In Fr ...
and Amos beer.
The
Covered Market of Metz is one of the oldest, most grandiose in France and is home to traditional local food producers and retailers. Originally built as the bishop's palace, the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
broke out before the Bishop of Metz could move in and the citizens decided to turn it into a food market. The adjacent Chamber's Square () is surrounded by numerous local food restaurants.
Celebrations and events
Many events are celebrated in Metz throughout the year. The city of Metz dedicates two weeks to the
Mirabelle plum
Mirabelle plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''syriaca'') is a cultivar group of plum trees of the genus ''Prunus''. It is believed that the plum was cultivated from a wild fruit grown in Anatolia.
Description
The mirabelle is identified by it ...
during the popular Mirabelle Festival held in August. During the festival, in addition to open markets selling fresh plums, mirabelle tarts and mirabelle liquor, there are live music, fireworks, parties, art exhibits, a parade with floral floats, a competition, the crowning of the Mirabelle Queen and a gala of celebration.
A literature festival is held in June. The Montgolfiades
hot air balloon festival
Hot air balloon festivals are held annually in many places throughout the year, allowing hot air balloons operators to gather- as well as for the general public- to participate in various activities. They can include races; evening "night glows", ...
is organized in September. The second most popular
Christmas Market
A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: ''Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Chris ...
in France is held in November and December. Finally, a
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...
parade honors the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of the
Lorraine region in December.
Sports
![Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz (14219502229)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Stade_Saint-Symphorien%2C_Metz_%2814219502229%29.jpg)
Metz is home to the Football Club of Metz (
FC Metz
Football Club de Metz, commonly referred to as FC Metz or simply Metz (), is a French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 2, the second division in the French football league sys ...
), a football association club in
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
, the highest division of French football (as of 2019–2020 season). FC Metz has won three times the
Ligue 2
Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...
(1935, 2007 and 2014), twice the
Coupe de France
The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...
(in 1984 and 1988) and the
French League Cup
The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France, ...
(in 1986 and 1996), and was
French championship
The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s.
...
runner-up in 1998.
FC Metz has also gained recognition in France and Europe for its successful youth academy, winning the
Gambardella Cup 3 times in 1981, 2001 and 2010.
The
Saint-Symphorien stadium has been the home of FC Metz since the creation of the club.
Metz Handball
Metz Handball is a French handball club from Metz, France. Founded in 1965 under the name ASPTT Metz, the club has an exceptional track record with some 40 titles won, which is the all-time record for a French women's team sport. Chaired by Thierr ...
is a
Handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
club. Metz Handball has won the French Women's First League championship 23 times, the Women's France Cup nine times, and the French Women's League Cup eight times. The
Metz Arena has been the home of Metz Handball since 2002.
Since 2003, Metz has been home to the
Moselle Open
The Moselle Open (Open de Moselle from 2003 to 2010) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour from 2003, The venue for the tournament was most recently the Arènes an ...
, an
ATP World Tour 250 tournament played on indoor hard courts, which usually takes place in September.
Education
High schools
Metz has numerous high schools, including the
Fabert High School and the Lycée of Communication. Some of these institutions offer higher education programs such as
classes préparatoires
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
(undergraduate school) or
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...
(technician certificate).
University of Lorraine
Metz is also home to the University of Lorraine (often abbreviated as UdL).
The university is divided into two university centers, one in Metz (material sciences, technology and management) and one in
Nancy (biological sciences, health care, administration and management). The University of Lorraine, which ranks in 2016 among the top 15 of French universities and among the top 300 of universities in the world according to the 2016
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
, has a student body of over 55,000 and offers 101 accredited research centers organized in 9 research areas and 8 doctoral colleges.
Graduate schools
At the end of the 1990s, the city expanded and the
Metz Science Park
The Science Park of Metz is located in the South-East of the city, in the area of Grigy. It is the second technology center of Lorraine in terms of workforce, behind the science park of Nancy. There are more than 250 companies and 4000 people work ...
was created in the southern area. Along with this expansion, several graduate schools took the opportunity to establish campuses in the park. At first, facilities were grouped around the lake Symphony, like
Supélec
École supérieure d'électricité, commonly known as Supélec (), was a French graduate school of engineering. It was one of the most prestigious grande écoles in France in the field of electrical engineering, energy and information sciences. ...
in 1985 and
Georgia Tech Lorraine
Georgia Tech Europe (GTE) is a campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Metz, France and is part of Georgia Tech's International Plan. GTE offers undergraduate and graduate programs in electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engi ...
in 1990. In 1996, the engineering school
Arts et Métiers ParisTech
Arts et Métiers ParisTech is a French engineering and research institute of higher education. It is a ''grande école'', recognized for leading in the fields of mechanics and industrialization. Founded in 1780, it is among the oldest French ins ...
(ENSAM) built a research and learning center next to the golf course. This opened the way to the development of a new area, where the Franco-German university (ISFATES) and the ENIM moved in 2010. These graduate schools often cooperate with the University of Lorraine. For instance, the university and ENSAM share research teams, laboratories, equipments and doctoral programs. The
is also located in the city.
Transport
Local transport
Public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
includes a
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
system, called Mettis. Mettis vehicles are high-capacity
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
bi-articulated buses built by
Van Hool
Van Hool NV () is a Belgian family-owned coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, coaches, trolleybuses, and trailers.
Most of the buses and coaches are built entirely by Van Hool, with engines and axles sourced from Caterpillar, Cummins, ...
, and stop at designated elevated tubes, complete with disability access. Mettis has its own planned and integrated
transportation system
A transport network, or transportation network, is a network or graph in geographic space, describing an infrastructure that permits and constrains movement or flow.
Examples include but are not limited to road networks, railways, air routes, ...
, which includes two dedicated lines that spread out into the Metz conurbation. Mettis lanes A and B serve the city's major facilities (e.g., city centre, university campus and hospitals), and a
transport hub
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...
is located next to the railway station.
Railways
Metz Railway Station is connected to the French high speed train (
TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
) network, which provides a direct rail service to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. The time from Paris (
Gare de l'Est
The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris-Est, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Gar ...
) to Metz is 82 minutes. Additionally, Metz is served by the
Lorraine TGV railway station, located at
Louvigny, to the south of Metz, for high speed trains going to
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
,
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
,
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...
and
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
(without stopping in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
). Also, Metz is one of the main stations of the regional express trains system,
Métrolor.
Motorways
Metz is located at the
intersection
In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...
of two major road axes: the
Eastern Motorway, itself a part of the
European route E50
European 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.
Outlook
Half the route is on hi ...
connecting Paris to
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, and the
A31 Motorway, which goes north to
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
and south to the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
towards
Nancy,
Dijon
Dijon (, , ) (dated)
* it, Digione
* la, Diviō or
* lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920.
The earlies ...
and
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
.
Airports
The
Luxembourg International Airport
Luxembourg Airport is the main airport in Luxembourg. Previously called ''Luxembourg Findel Airport'' due to its location at Findel, it is Luxembourg's only international airport and is the only airport in the country with a paved runway. It i ...
is the nearest international airport, connected to Metz by
Métrolor train. The
Lorraine TGV Station
Lorraine TGV station ( French: ''Gare de Lorraine TGV'') is a railway station located in Louvigny, France, on the LGV Est, a high-speed rail line running from Paris to Strasbourg. Opened in 2007 as part of the first phase of the new line, it is ...
is 75 minutes by train from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
international
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...
. Finally,
Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport is located in
Goin, southeast of Metz.
Waterways
Metz is located at the confluence of the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
and the
Seille rivers, both
navigable waterways. The marina connects Metz to the cities of the Moselle valley (i.e.
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
,
Schengen
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
and
Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...
) via the Moselle river.
Main sights
Religious heritage
* the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
Saint Stephen's cathedral built during the 13th century. The cathedral is nicknamed the Good Lord's Lantern (),
as it has the largest expanse of
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows in the world and the
tenth-highest nave in the world.
* the
Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains basilica, one of the
oldest churches in the world
This article lists some but by no means all of the oldest known church buildings in the world. In most instances, buildings listed here were reconstructed numerous times and only fragments of the original buildings have survived. These surviving ...
and cradle of the
Gregorian Chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...
.
* Saint Maximin's church featuring stained glass windows by French artist
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...
, and the Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus church built by French architect
Roger-Henri Expert
Roger-Henri Expert (18 April 1882 – 13 April 1955) 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 École nationale supérieure des Be ...
.
* the 13th century Romanesque
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
's chapel, once part of the Templar
commandery
In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...
of Metz, the oldest Templar institution in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
.
Civil heritage
* The
opera house of Metz Metropole built during the 18th century in
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
-influenced neo-Classical style.
It is the oldest working
opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
in France and one of the oldest in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
* The birthplaces of
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' in international and ...
,
Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier
Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier () was a French chemistry and physics teacher, and one of the first pioneers of aviation. He made the first manned free balloon flight with François Laurent d'Arlandes on 21 November 1783, in a Montgolfier ball ...
,
André Schwarz-Bart
André Schwarz-Bart (May 23, 1928, Metz, Moselle - September 30, 2006, Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe) was a French novelist of Polish-Jewish origins. He was awarded the 1967 Jerusalem Prize.
Biography
Schwarz-Bart's parents moved to France i ...
,
Gustave Kahn
Gustave Kahn (21 December 1859, in Metz – 5 September 1936, in Paris) was a French Symbolist poet and art critic. He was also active, via publishing and essay-writing, in defining Symbolism and distinguishing it from the Decadent Movement.
...
,
Gabriel Pierné
Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (16 August 1863 – 17 July 1937) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist.
Biography
Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz. His family moved to Paris, after Metz and part of Lorraine were annexed to Germ ...
, the sculptor
Charles Pêtre, and
Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle
Antoine-Charles-Louis, Comte de Lasalle (10 May 1775, Metz6 July 1809, Wagram) was a French cavalry general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, often called "The Hussar General". He first gained fame for his role in the Capitulation ...
.
* The house of
François Rabelais
François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and ...
, when he came to Metz—then a
free imperial city
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
and a
republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
—to escape condemnation for heresy by the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
.
* Numerous medieval edifices, including two
granaries
A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...
and several
Hôtels.
Administrative heritage
* the town square and its surrounding
Neoclassical buildings, built by French architect
Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel (8 January 1705 – 9 January 1774) was an 18th-century French architect and teacher. After running his own highly successful school of architecture for many years, he was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Acad ...
.
* the
Neoclassical courthouse (former
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
's Palace), built by French artist
Charles-Louis Clérisseau Charles-Louis Clérisseau (28 August 1721 – 9 January 1820) was a French architect, draughtsman, antiquary, and artist who became a leading authority on ancient Roman architecture and Roman ruins in Italy and France. With his influence extending t ...
,
location in 1775 of the ''
Diner of Metz'' when
Lafayette
Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to:
People
* Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette
* House of La Fayette, a French noble family
** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 ...
met
Marquis of Ruffec and
Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...
and decided to support the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
.
* the
Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
Station-Palace and Central Post Office, built by German architect
Jürgen Kröger
Jürgen Kröger (16 November 1856 in Haale, Germany – 27 February 1928 in Aukrug) was a German architect, active from 1880 to 1920. He bore the title "(kaiserlicher) Baurat" in 1908, and was an architectural advisor to German Emperor Wilhelm I ...
.
* the Northeast France defense headquarters (former
Kaiser
''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...
headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
), built by German architects Schönhals and Stolterfoth in a neo-Flemish style.
Military heritage
* the German's Gate from the 13th century, the last medieval
bridge castle
A bridge castle (german: Brückenburg) is a type of castle that was built to provide military observation and security for a river crossing. In the narrower sense it refers to castles that are built directly on or next to a bridge. Sometimes, ...
in France. The fortification played a crucial defensive role during the
siege of Metz in 1552–1553 by Emperor
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
.
* the ruins of the city's
defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
s dating from
ancient history
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
to the 18th century,
and the extensive 19th- and 20th-century
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 ...
.
* the
Fort of Queuleu, also called the Hell of Queuleu (), used by the Germans as a detention and interrogation centre for members of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
during the Second World War.
* the
war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
, art deco sculpture by French sculptor
Paul Niclausse representing a mother cradling the dead body of her son.
International relations
Metz is a member of the
QuattroPole (FR) (DE) union of cities, along with
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
,
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
and
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
(neighbouring countries: Luxembourg, France, and Germany). Metz has a central place in the
Greater Region
SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux (also ''SarLorLux'' in French), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, is a euroregion of five regional authorities located in four European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of sev ...
and of the economic
SaarLorLux
SaarLorLux or Saar-Lor-Lux (also ''SarLorLux'' in French), a portmanteau of Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, is a euroregion of five regional authorities located in four European states. The term has also been applied to cooperations of sev ...
Euroregion
In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two (or more) contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region. ...
. Metz is also twin town with:
*
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
,
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
, Germany, from 1957
*
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
, England,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, from 1967
*
Karmiel
Karmiel ( he, כַּרְמִיאֵל) 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, f ...
, Israel, from 1984
*
Saint-Denis, Réunion
Saint-Denis (, , unofficially Saint-Denis de La Réunion for disambiguation; ) is the prefecture (administrative capital) of the French overseas department and region of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. It is located at the island's northernmos ...
, France, from 1986
*
Yichang
Yichang (), alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. It is the third largest city in the province after the capital, Wuhan and the prefecture-level city Xiangyang, by urban populati ...
, China, from 1991
*
Hradec Králové
Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...
, Czech Republic, from 2001
*
Djambala
Djambala is the main town of Djambala District and the Plateaux Region of the Republic of Congo. It lies north of Brazzaville and lies near the Léfini Faunal Reserve.
Climate
Djambala has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen ''Aw''), bord ...
, Republic of Congo, from 2012
Notes and references
{{Authority control
Communes of Moselle (department)
Free imperial cities
Prefectures in France
Mediomatrici
Three Bishoprics
Cities in France