Visit France > Lorraine > Metz

With its twenty miles of landscaped walks along rivers, canals and along the ramparts, Metz is a green garden city, winner of the first European Prize for Flowered Cities... 

With its Mediterranean-style, yellow ochre buildings, Metz, capital of Lorraine, has a softness more typical of towns in the south. Many of the facades are in Jaumont stone whose warm colours are bright and friendly, the perfect background for a gentle stroll trough the narrow streets, for a glass of wine on one of the many terraces,or as you daydream peacefully on the banks of the Moselle.

Built on the several islands formed by the moselle and the Seille, water is one of the main natural features in Metz, this is a deliberate policy that has added to the town's beauty and charm. City of light, Metz is also superb in the evening when the whole town sparkles.

The ancient arcades in place Saint Louis recall medieval times when the town was a dynamic commercial centre. The architectural highpoint is Saint Etienne's cathedral, with one of the biggest nave in France (42 m).

The Cour d'Or museums, with their important collections, give an excellent idea of the city's 3000 years of history.

Not to be missed

Architectural Heritage

Metz is a stained glass city! First practiced here in the 12th C, this traditional craft is still widespread today. The Cathedral, with its 6,500m2 of stained glass, is one of the most exquisite examples of the art, but there are many others: those in the choir of Saint-Martin's Church are by Maréchal, those in Saint-Maximin's by Jean Cocteau, who succeeded in creating an unusually delicate and poetically coloured work. The oldest in Lorraine is a tiny 12th C Crucifixion in Sainte-Ségolène's. Saint Etienne's Cathedral (stained glass by Chagall), the Cour d'Or Museums, the Arsenal, the Place de la Comédie with the longest serving theatre in France, Place Saint-Louis, the Impérial District near the station redesigned by the contemporary architects, Philippe Starck and Sir Norman Foster, the Porte des Allemands…

Museums

The Cour d'Or Museums in the ancient Roman baths, the 15th C Chèvremont loft and a group of rebuilt medieval buildings. In brief: Verlaine and Pilâtre de Rozier, pilot of the first hot-air balloon flight, were both born in Metz. François Rabelais stayed here for a time while he wrote the Fourth Book of Pantagruel; the text is full of words taken from the local vernacular, with references to local customs and clothing, and legends about the town.

Parks and gardens

The Botanical Gardens, the promenades on the Esplanade, walks along the banks of the Moselle and the Seille and on the medieval ramparts, the Scy-Chazelles gardens and those at the 18th C Château de Pange.