How well do you know Metz? Read some interesting facts about the city below and see!
- Metz is a city in northeast France. It is on the Moselle River. It is the capital city of the region of Lorraine.
- It is a cultural, commercial, and transportation center of Lorraine, an industrial city producing metals, machinery, tobacco, clothing, and food products, and the home of one of France’s largest military bases.
- Metz is one of eight cities targeted by the French government for special planning and development.
- Metz was a major cultural center of the Carolingian Renaissance (8th century) and was later (10th century) a prosperous commercial city with an important Jewish community.
- Metz became a free imperial city in the 12th cent. and was then one of the richest and most populous cities of the empire.
- Paul Verlaine, a famous French poet associated with the Symbolist movement, was born in Metz in 1844.
- During the German annexation of E Lorraine (1871–1918), Metz, largely French-speaking, was a center of pro-French sentiment. During World War II the city suffered greatly under German occupation.
- There are many Gallo-Roman ruins in Metz, including an aqueduct, thermal baths, and part of an amphitheater. Much has also been preserved from the medieval period.
- The celebrated Cathedral of St. Étienne, built from c.1221 to 1516, has one of Europe’s largest collections of stained glass.
- The Place Sainte-Croix is a square in Metz surrounded by medieval houses (13th–15th cent.).
- Metz has several other churches, including St. Pierre-de-la-Citadelle Basilica, mansions from the Middle Ages, and many beautiful promenades.
- Metz is also the site of the futuristic Pompidou-Metz museum (2010), the first regional branch of Paris’ Beaubourg (Pompidou Center).
Interesting, right? Stay tuned for more facts coming soon (and make sure to visit these sites while you’re here!).
-Ije
Source: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Metz.aspx