Explorer Metz

Metz Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Stephen, was built in Gothic style from the 13th century; its transept and choir were finished between 1486 and 1520. The vault of the nave rises 41 m. Its windows cover about 6,500 m², from medieval glass by Hermann von Münster and Valentin Bousch to 20th-century windows by Marc Chagall and Jacques Villon.

The Musée de la Cour d'Or is the museum of Metz, founded in 1839 and laid out through a chain of old buildings: the former Petits-Carmes convent, the Chèvremont granary of 1457 and the Trinitaires chapel. Its collections run from Gallo-Roman finds, including Roman baths uncovered on the site in the 1930s, to medieval painted ceilings and paintings of the School of Metz.

The Temple Neuf is a Protestant church on the Île du Petit-Saulcy, beside the Moselle and the Place de la Comédie in Metz. Built from 1901 to 1904 while Metz was part of the German Empire, it follows Conrad Wahn's Romanesque Revival design in grey Vosges sandstone, unlike the yellow stone of the old town. Emperor Wilhelm II attended its inauguration.

The Germans' Gate is a fortified gate and bridge over the Seille, the main surviving part of the medieval walls of Metz. Two round towers facing the town date from around 1230; an outer pair of 28 m towers with battlements was added in 1445, and a galleried bridge joined the two around 1480. Restored in 2014, its halls now host exhibitions and events.

Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains was built around 400 as a hall of a Gallo-Roman complex in Metz and became the church of a Benedictine convent in the 7th century. After the siege of 1552 it was taken into the citadel and used as a military warehouse. Restored in the 1970s, it now belongs to the Arsenal cultural complex and hosts concerts and exhibitions.

Walygator Grand Est is an amusement park at Maizières-lès-Metz, about 15 km north of Metz, built on the site of former steelworks. It opened in 1989 as Big Bang Schtroumpf and was later called Walibi Lorraine and Walygator Parc. Its rides include the Anaconda wooden roller coaster, the inverted coaster The Monster and the Dino-Raft river rapids.

Amnéville Zoo is a zoological park of about 18 hectares in the Moselle valley between Metz and the Luxembourg border, opened in 1986 by its founder Michel Louis and run as a workers' cooperative. Some 360 species live in its wooded grounds, among them gorillas, orangutans and polar bears, and daily shows feature sea lions and birds in flight.