My wishes and my tastes
Stop-overs and city breaks
History of Metz
3,000 years of history have given the city of Metz, lying at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille rivers, its unique character, with its heritage of outstanding beauty so remarkably preserved in a haven of greenery.
Already inhabited by the end of the Bronze Age (1,000 BC), the site of Metz would become one of the principle towns of Gaul and capital city of the Celtic Mediomatrici. When Julius Caesar defeated the Gauls, it became an important Gallo-Roman city, Divodorum Mediomatricorum. The landscape is marked by baths and aqueducts and the amphitheatre, which could hold 25,000, today buried underground, bears witness to the importance of the city.
In the 6th century, Metz was declared capital of the Merovingians of Austrasia and became very well-known in the Christian world during the Carolingian Renaissance. Along with the rest of Lotharingia, the future Lorraine, Metz was integrated into the Germanic Holy Roman Empire in the 10th century.
Metz, 3,000
years of history
As a Republic, Metz lived its most prosperous period until the 15th century. In 1552, this city of Roman culture peacefully accepted to pass into the hands of the Franks. The treaty of Westphalia officially recognised Metz as part of France in 1648. Metz became the capital of the province of the Three-Bishoprics.
Annexed by Germany in 1871, Metz was returned to France in 1918 before becoming part of Germany again from 1940 to 1944.
Turned towards Europe and the technologies of tomorrow, Metz blends its passion for contemporary art with its attachment to the values handed down from the past. Close to three frontiers (Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium), capital of Lorraine, Metz exerts its influence over a population of 430,000 inhabitants.
The city continues to develop its vocation to exchange and communicate. It is involved in the cross-border Quattropole urban network (Luxembourg, Metz, Sarrebruck and Trèves), Lela + (Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Longwy, Arlon, Thionville et Metz), and the regional Sillon Lorrain group (Epinal, Metz, Nancy and Thionville).
