Metz-Centre – Old City

At the beginning of the walk, we pass in front of the Centre-Pompidou Metz, a satellite of the famous Museum of Contemporary Art in Paris. The Metz Museum opened its doors in 2010 and opened a new chapter for the city. The corrugated wooden roof is reminiscent of the Efteling front door. In addition to being an iconic building, Metz immediately has a whole series of exhibitions and art projects that are organized from here. This must be a significant factor for the local economy and represents a new dynamic for the city. Based on the publicity for many exhibitions, we think a visit is definitely worthwhile.

The centre of Metz lies between the canals fed by the Moselle to the east and the Seille to the west. The tourist office has divided the city centre into five regions. Each with a short walk that connects the main monuments and sights. These walks are useful as hands on metal plates mounted in the trails. Useful for visitors without GPS on foot, but we draw our plan with a walk that visits all these areas of the city.

We pass in front of the station, with a particular medieval architecture, until we reach the seafront of the Moselle. Here we pass many chic and grandiloquent buildings that remind us of the historic districts of Paris. One of them is Arsenal, a barracks. We mainly see a lot of old paintings of tough soldiers with wigs and makeup. Nearby we enter the Templar Chapel with beautiful murals.

The southeastern part of the city is called Jardins en Musique, a green area along the banks of the Moselle. We are impressed by the combination of charming parks and beautiful historic facades of the city. There is still part of the old city wall. It's a really nice area to stay in. Although we were warned at the hotel not to come here after dark. During the day we enjoy the pleasant atmosphere here.

We follow the water towards the north and reach the district of the Islands. We are appropriately greeted by a tree-covered island with Temple Nine on it. This old Gothic church reminds us of a small version of Notre-Dame de Paris.

On the nearby Place de la Comédie, a giant flower box has been placed around a central fountain. In it, an exotic garden has been laid out where narrow and adventurous hiking trails meander through. Perhaps this is a temporary art project. We are very impressed: what a beautiful city garden they planted here. A good example of how we can replace the car-dominated concrete space with beautiful and soothing nature.

We are already excited about the beautifully planted Gothic Temple Neuf. A little further on, we find the Cathedral of Saint Stephen. We are immediately enchanted by the architecture of this very high cathedral. Many of the colorful stained glass windows are still authentic. It's unique.

We pass the Musée de la Cour d'Or, a well-known Gallo-Roman museum, and stroll along the cozy squares of the city dotted with terraces. Here we again find many beautiful green areas and the medieval German Gate. In our opinion, it would be a privileged place to film some scenes of Game Of Thrones.

We are pleasantly surprised by this cozy city full of beautiful streets, squares and beautiful buildings. There is also a lot of nature, especially along beautiful neighborhoods on the water. You can easily spend a day here sightseeing, shopping and terraces. If you also want to visit the Centre Pompidou and the Gallo-Roman Museum, you can easily spend two days in Metz.