Things to See in Metz

Metz preserves evidence of more than three thousand years of history. The city was a stronghold of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of France and, later, the German Empire. Medieval streets and Gothic stonework sit alongside eighteenth-century squares, defensive gates and a modern centre for contemporary art.

Saint-Étienne Cathedral and Place Saint-Louis

Saint-Étienne Cathedral took shape between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Built in Gothic style from golden-yellow Jaumont limestone quarried in Lorraine, it is known as the Lanterne du Bon-Dieu for the extent of its stained glass. Several windows were designed by the Russian painter Marc Chagall. The building also appears in works by Auguste Migette and Albert Robida, as well as on a French stamp issued in 1936.

Nearby Place Saint-Louis retains the form of a medieval square. Its houses have canal-tile roofs with a distinctive diamond-point profile, while some façades carry projecting Renaissance balconies. A statue of Saint Louis occupies the centre. The square became fully pedestrian in 2007.

Classical squares and the Wilhelmine city

Place de la Comédie belongs to the eighteenth-century programme that reshaped Metz after Vauban fortified the city. Together with Place d’Armes and the Esplanade, it formed a classical ensemble intended to express royal authority. The square lies on the Petit-Saulcy island. Its opera house dates from the 1750s and has an Italian-style auditorium; it was part of the building campaign promoted by the Duke of Belle-Isle.

Place d’Armes is a rectangular paved square associated with Belle-Isle and the architect Jacques-François Blondel. The town hall occupies its eastern side. A parliament was originally planned to the south as a further emblem of royal power, but shops took its place after the Revolution.

A different political period is visible in the Temple Neuf. This early twentieth-century Reformed church was built in neo-Romanesque style during the Wilhelmine era, after the German annexation that followed the defeat of 1870. It formed part of the building programme through which Wilhelm II sought to Germanise the city.

Art and history collections

The Centre Pompidou-Metz, near the railway station and Parc de la Seille, was completed in 2010. More than 5,000 square metres are devoted to contemporary art. The project was conceived as a way to extend major artistic institutions beyond Paris.

The Musée de la Cour d’Or brings several collections together. Its archaeology displays include Gallo-Roman material, while the architectural collections focus on the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Fine art and military history are also represented. Founded in 1839, the museum began with a collection of preserved animals linked to the Moselle natural history society.

Gates and the Esplanade

The Porte des Allemands is both a fortified gate and a bridge over the Seille. Its name refers to the Teutonic Knights, who founded a hospice nearby. Metz acquired the structure in 1900. The Porte Serpenoise marked the southern limit of the city from the thirteenth century into the early twentieth. Rebuilt several times, its present form dates from 1852 and resembles a triumphal arch with sentry boxes.

In the city centre, the Esplanade garden covers almost 10,000 square metres above the Saint-Symphorien lake. Laid out in the early nineteenth century and altered in the 1960s, it contains lime and horse-chestnut trees. Statues along its paths were made by artists associated with the Metz school.