Children's playground - Jean-Marie Pelt Gardens - Parc de la Seille

Twenty hectares of nature at the heart of the Amphithéâtre district: Parc de la Seille, renamed Jardins Jean-Marie-Pelt in 2016, blends basins, a reed bed and local crops—vines, a hop garden and mirabelle plum trees. People come to stroll along the Seille, but also to play, cycle or play table tennis. Free to enter all year round, it is the great green lung of southern Metz.

A 20-hectare ecological park

Opened in 2002 as part of the new Amphithéâtre district, the park stretches between the railway embankment and the banks of the Seille. Designed by landscape architects Jacques Coulon and Laure Planchais, it gathers meadows, gardens and mounds around a set of basins and a reed bed that manage the district's rainwater. Vines, a hop garden and mirabelle plum trees recall Lorraine's traditional crops. Awarded the Écojardin label since 2012, it is maintained according to biodiversity-friendly practices.

A tribute to Jean-Marie Pelt

In 2016 the park was renamed Jardins Jean-Marie-Pelt in tribute to the botanist, ecologist and founder of the European Institute of Ecology, a Metz figure devoted to nature in the city. The name sums up the spirit of the place well: a park that is not just a backdrop but a genuine ecosystem designed for wildlife, plants and water management, while remaining open to walkers. The Seille, which runs through it, separates the Amphithéâtre district from that of Queuleu.

Play and move as a family

Beyond strolling, the park is equipped for many activities: a children's playground, table-tennis tables, football and basketball courts, a roller-skating track and a cycle path. It is a lively spot loved by families of southern Metz, where people picnic on the meadows, children run about and cyclists follow the banks of the Seille. All of it free to enter, just minutes from the historic centre.