Metz (France) by PirateOfMangrove on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Metz is a French commune located in the Moselle department, in Lorraine. Metz and its surroundings, which were part of the Three Bishoprics from 1552 to 1790, were landlocked between the Duchy of Luxembourg (until 1659), the Ducal Lorraine and the Duchy of Bar until 1766. Furthermore, the city was the capital of the Lorraine region from 1974 to 2015.

A city known since pre-Roman antiquity, the Celtic oppidum of the Mediomatrici, known under the Latin name of Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then as Mettis, became the capital of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia in the sixth century AD. A trading city of the Carolingian Empire, Metz is the seat of a powerful bishopric, and an important trading and banking city of the Holy Roman Empire. Coveted by its neighbors (and debtors) and then by the Kingdom of France, Metz became a French protectorate and stronghold in the 16th century, before being annexed by the German Empire at the end of the 19th century (Alsace-Moselle). French again after the First World War, it was de facto annexed by the Third Reich from 1940 to 1944. The city has a significant architectural diversity, from antiquity to the 20th century, rich in a strong medieval and classical heritage, with French and Germanic influence, particularly in the imperial district, developed during the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, representative of Wilhelmine architecture. The Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains church, in the city center, is one of the oldest churches in the world.