Place Saint-Etienne · Photo: Wikiro · CC BY-SA 3.0

125historic monuments

History of Metz · Monuments historiques

A secteur sauvegardé since 1975, and 125 historic monuments

The Culture ministry lists 125 historic monuments in Metz: 44 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 81 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from Antiquity. That’s 10 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 86% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. We have photos of 115 of them.

44classé 1975protected area Antiquityoldest part 1840first protected

Monuments historiques

125

10 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5

Classé

the highest protection

Inscrit

the second level

Oldest part

Antiquity

of any listed monument

Homes before 1919

8.5%

median compared town 7.4%

In pictures

Metz in 115 photos

Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

Collège des Jésuites (ancienne abbaye Saint-Clément)Classé

Vestiges de l'enceinte du Moyen-AgeClassé

Maisons, actuellement siège de la DRAC (direction régionale des affaires culturelles)Classé

Palais de JusticeClassé

Ancien grenier connu sous le nom de Grange de ChèvremontClassé+110See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.

Protected area

Metz has had a protected historic area since 1975

Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.

Area	Created as	Plan in force
SPR44-34	Secteur sauvegardé September 29, 1975	PSMV (safeguarding plan) December 22, 2017

A site patrimonial remarquable protects a whole area rather than one building: inside it, building work follows the area’s own plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France. A PSMV (plan de sauvegarde et de mise en valeur) is the strictest plan: it covers every building, inside as well as out.

The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.

Map

Where Metz’s monuments stand

Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.

Classé is the higher protection: any work on the building needs the State’s permission. Work on an inscrit building must be declared to the State in advance. Around both, building work in sight of the monument (usually within 500 m) needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.

Points as the ministry gives them: a monument spread over several plots has one point. 39 monuments have no point on the map.

Classé

44 classé monuments in Metz

Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 26 of the 44 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.

Archaeological site · protected 1938Vestiges gallo-romainsPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1925Église Saint-MartinPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Bridge · protected 1927Pont des ThermesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Abbey · protected 1909Ancienne abbaye Saint-PierrePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Chris06 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Town walls · protected 1929Vestiges de l'enceinte du Moyen-AgePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Cathedral · protected 1930cathédrale Saint-ÉtiennePhoto: Jean François Racine · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Chapel · protected 1968Chapelle de la Miséricorde (ancienne)Photo: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Chapel · protected 1840Chapelle des TempliersPhoto: Marc Ryckaert ( MJJR ) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1979Église Saint-EucairePhoto: Fredamas · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1923Église Saint-MaximinPhoto: L’auteur n’a pas pu être identifié automatiquement. Il est supposé qu'il s'agit de : Zusammen030378~commonswiki (étant donné la revendication de droit d’auteur). · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 2014Église Sainte-SégolènePhoto: Vincent Zimmermann · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Commandery · protected 1930Ancienne commanderie Saint-AntoinePart of the building is protectedPhoto: L’auteur n’a pas pu être identifié automatiquement. Il est supposé qu'il s'agit de : Zusammen030378~commonswiki (étant donné la revendication de droit d’auteur). · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1930Église Saint-VincentPhoto: Graoully · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Public building · protected 1924Ancien grenier connu sous le nom de Grange de ChèvremontPhoto: user:Diligent · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1928Ancienne église Saint-Etienne-le-Dépensié ou DépennéPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Ga5775 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1929Église des Grands Carmes (ruines de l'ancienne)Photo: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Town house · protected 1990Hôtel de Heu (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Town house · protected 2006Hôtel dit de Gournay-BurtaignePhoto: Diligent · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Abbey · protected 1978Ancienne abbaye Sainte-GlossindePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fredamas · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Barracks · protected 1926Ancienne caserne du Cloître, lycée de garçonsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Auteur inconnu Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1968Église Notre-DamePhoto: Pierre lemessin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Military building · protected 1921Bâtiment militairePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1973Église des Trinitaires (ancienne)Photo: Vincent Zimmermann · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Fountain · protected 1929Fontaine CoislinPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Show the other 20

Town hall · protected 1922Hôtel de villePart of the building is protectedPhoto: besopha · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Monument · protected 1928Immeuble (ancien Parlement)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Building · protected 1922Immeubles (ancien Parlement)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

House · protected 1923Maisons, actuellement siège de la DRAC (direction régionale des affaires culturelles)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Public building · protected 1930Place Saint-EtiennePhoto: Wikiro · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

School · protected 1992Collège des Jésuites (ancienne abbaye Saint-Clément)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Temple · protected 1930Temple protestantPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Marc Ryckaert ( MJJR ) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Convent · protected 1930Couvent des CarmélitesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: L’auteur n’a pas pu être identifié automatiquement. Il est supposé qu'il s'agit de : Zusammen030378~commonswiki (étant donné la revendication de droit d’auteur). · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Convent · protected 1972Couvent des Récollets (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Symposiarch · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Public building · protected 1921Palais de JusticePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Public building · protected 1948Place d'ArmesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Symposiarch · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Theater · protected 1930Théâtre municipalPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Photo: Andreas Praefcke · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Building · protected 1994Immeuble, 11 rue de la FontainePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Ga5775 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

House · protected 1994Maison, 9 et 11 en partie rue de la FontainePhoto: Ga5775 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

House · protected 1928Maison, 8 rue MazellePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Military building · protected 1982Fortifications, rue du Corps-Expéditionnaire-FrançaisPart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Building · protected 1930Immeubles, 1, 2, 3, 6, 6bis, 7, 11 place de la ComédiePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Public building · protected 1929Ancienne école royale d'artilleriePart of the building is protected

Church · protected 1998Église Sainte-Thérèse-de-l'Enfant-Jésus

Building · protected 1975Immeuble, 1 rue de la ChèvrePart of the building is protected

Inscrit

81 inscrit monuments in Metz

Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.

All 78, A to Z

53 more, named only by their kind

53 more are named in the list only by their kind: 45 houses (maisons), 5 buildings (immeubles) and 3 others. The 50 with an address are in the list above, by it.

13th c.1

15th c.1

16th c.4

17th c.5

18th c.9

19th c.1

20th c.1

undated31

See all 125 on the map

What’s protected

Most of Metz’s monuments are houses and homes

Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.

Houses & homes65

Religious buildings28

Public & civic16

Military & fortified7

Tombs & cemeteries2

Bridges & engineering2

Houses & homes: 65 of 125 monuments (52%). 28 are religious buildings, 19 of them classé.

Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 5 have no domain on the list.

How old

How old Metz’s monuments are

Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.

Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.3

Middle Ages 5th–15th c.25

16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution39

19th century 1801–19005

20th century and later since 19017

28 of 79 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Vestiges gallo-romains (1st c.). 46 monuments have no date on the list.

When protected

51 of Metz’s monuments were protected in 1929

Monuments by the year they were first protected.

1929 · 51

1840186018801900192019401960198020002020

First protected, in 1840: Chapelle des Templiers. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 51 were protected in 1929 alone. 7 have been added since 2011.

Born before 1900

195 people born in Metz before 1900

The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.

Johannes Polyander à Kerkhoven

Sébastien Leclerc

Pierre Poiret

Tobias Cohn

Louis-Marie Fouquet de Belle-Isle

Jean-Baptiste Le Prince

Adam Philippe de Custine

Claude-François Bertrand de Boucheporn

François Barbé-Marbois

Pierre Louis de Lacretelle

Jean-Baptiste Bouchotte

Pierre-Louis Rœderer

Charles Victor Woirgard

Basile Guy Marie Victor Baltus de Pouilly

Charles de Lacretelle

Antoine Richepanse

François-Étienne Kellermann

Jean-Baptiste Pierre de Semellé

François Antoine Lallemand

Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle

155016001650170017501800185019001950

Johannes Polyander à Kerkhoven1568–1646 · Dutch theologian

Sébastien Leclerc1637–1714 · French painter

Pierre Poiret1646–1719 · French philosopher and mystic

Tobias Cohn1652–1729 · Polish physician

Louis-Marie Fouquet de Belle-Isle1732–1758 · French soldier

Jean-Baptiste Le Prince1734–1781 · French painter

Adam Philippe de Custine1740–1793 · French general

Claude-François Bertrand de Boucheporn1741–1794 · French jurist

Everyone born in Metz Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.

Towns its size

Metz has the 10th most monuments of 41 towns its size

Compared French towns of 92,200 to 163,700 residents, by historic monuments.

Nancy264

Rouen234

Dijon216

Besançon194

Clermont-Ferrand181

Orléans167

Avignon165

Aix-en-Provence161

Tours153

Metz125

Angers101

Nîmes96

#10 of 41for monuments per resident (10 per 10,000). Most per resident: Nancy, Rouen and Avignon.

The median town of these has 39. 1 of the 41 have none.

Neighbors

Historic monuments in the towns around Metz

Town	Residents	Monuments	Classé	Protected area
Metz	122,572	125	44	Yes
Saint-Julien-lès-Metz	3,554	0	0	—
Montigny-lès-Metz	21,718	1	0	Yes
Longeville-lès-Metz	4,102	1	0	—
Le Ban-Saint-Martin	4,684	2	0	—
Woippy	14,967	1	0	—
Moulins-lès-Metz	5,265	2	0	—

In brief

Metz in brief

Metz’s oldest monument, Vestiges gallo-romains, dates from Antiquity. All told, the list holds 125 historic monuments, 44 of them classé, including Place Saint-Etienne. Its old center has been a secteur sauvegardé since 1975. Nécropole de Chambière is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

For its size, it has more historic monuments than 86% of compared French towns. Its classé monuments cluster together: 17 of them stand within 400 m of cathédrale Saint-Étienne. Only 9 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: 8.5% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

Monuments historiques. France protects buildings at two levels. Classé, the higher (about a third of the list), means any work needs the State’s permission; inscrit means work must be declared to the State in advance. The Culture ministry’s Mérimée base lists every protected building, and this page counts them.
Partly protected. Many entries protect part of a building only (its façades and roofs, a staircase, a painted room). Each counts as one monument, like a fully protected one.
Where a monument is counted. In the commune named on its protection, moved to today’s commune where communes have since merged. A monument listed for several communes counts in each.
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables. Since 2016 France’s protected historic areas (the former secteurs sauvegardés, ZPPAUP and AVAP) share one name. Inside one, building work follows the area’s plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
What isn’t here. Protected objects (furniture, organs, paintings), old buildings with no protection, UNESCO World Heritage listings and labels such as “Plus Beaux Villages de France” aren’t on this list, so this page doesn’t count them.
No History Grade yet. Everything on this page is described, not graded: France’s History Grade isn’t built yet.

Questions about the history of Metz

How many historic monuments are there in Metz?

The Culture ministry lists 125 historic monuments in Metz: 44 classé and 81 inscrit.

Which monuments in Metz are classé?

44, among them Vestiges gallo-romains, Église Saint-Martin, Pont des Thermes, Ancienne abbaye Saint-Pierre, Vestiges de l'enceinte du Moyen-Age and cathédrale Saint-Étienne.

How old are the monuments of Metz?

The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.

Is Metz a protected historic area?

Yes: part of Metz has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1975.

When were monuments in Metz first protected?

The first in 1840, the latest in 2025.

How old are the homes in Metz?

8.5% of its main homes were built before 1919 (median compared French town: 7.4%).

France has no History Grade yet: this page describes, it doesn’t grade.

Sources: Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée base on POP (immeubles protégés au titre des monuments historiques), October 2026 · Ministère de la Culture, sites patrimoniaux remarquables, October 2026 · INSEE, census 2023 (main homes by build period) · Wikidata and Wikipedia (people born here) · Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata (photos of the monuments, each with its own credit and license) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 9, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).

Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.