Maison de Rabelais: the site of a vanished house on Rue d'Enfer
The Maison de Rabelais stood below the Sainte-Croix hill, at the foot of Rue d'Enfer, in the Ancienne Ville district of Metz.
Fifteen months in Metz, from March 1546 to June 1547
According to the Metz tourist office, Rabelais arrived in March 1546: his books were threatened by censorship and he stopped with a friend of his patron, Cardinal Jean du Bellay. He stayed nearly fifteen months and worked on the Fourth Book. The office presents him as a doctor paid by the city, at the Saint-Nicolas hospital, for 120 livres a year. Local archives are missing for this period, however: following Zeller, historians consider that he may have been paid as a counsellor or city secretary, or even have combined these roles.
A vanished house, a memory carried by tradition
Do not expect to find the house: it no longer exists. Damaged during the Second World War, it was demolished in 1954, according to the tourist office. Wikipedia describes it as a 16th-century timber-framed building, the last of its kind in the city. The link with the writer calls for caution: the office uses cautious wording on one of its pages, and no source consulted offers archival proof. What remains is a door and a window, rebuilt against a wall at the back of the small garden, the only physical traces to look for here if you want to picture the old house.
What to see today at the foot of Rue d'Enfer
The site has become a small shady square, shared with a café terrace, where Rue d'Enfer meets En Jurue. Right beside it, the Saint-Genest chapel, once attached to the house, keeps the memory of the place alive; it can be viewed from outside. The association Les Amis de la Maison Rabelais has held summer exhibitions and concerts here, though we could not confirm a recent programme. The stop only takes a few minutes: look for the remains at the back of the garden, then climb Rue d'Enfer towards the Sainte-Croix hill and Rue des Murs.
Practical information
Address: Foot of Rue d'Enfer, at the corner of En Jurue, 57000 Metz (house no longer standing)
Frequently asked questions
Can you visit Rabelais's house?
No, because the house has gone: demolished in 1954, it gave way to a small square. You can see a door and a window rebuilt against a wall, along with the neighbouring Saint-Genest chapel, from outside.
Where should you stay to walk around Rue d'Enfer?
Aim for the centre around the cathedral to do everything on foot, or Outre-Seille for a compromise between charm and price. To compare these neighbourhoods and search for accommodation, turn to Staylaro's guide « Se loger à Metz ».
Where exactly was the house?
At the foot of Rue d'Enfer, where it meets En Jurue, below the Sainte-Croix hill. From the old centre you get there on foot, behind En Fournirue, by looking out for the Saint-Genest chapel.
Did Rabelais really live in this house?
Local tradition says so, but the sources consulted offer no proof. His stay in Metz in 1546-1547 is documented, whereas the address remains an attribution: one of the tourist office's own pages says only that it may have been his home.
