Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains church, a Gallo-Roman building in Metz
Built in the 4th century, this Gallo-Roman structure in the Roman style was not originally a church. It was later converted into an abbey church, which gives it a singular history in Metz.
History
The building was probably the palaestra of a bath complex, or a civil basilica. It became an abbey church before the 7th century, when a Benedictine abbey settled on the site.
Today
After its successive lives, the monument has been converted into a cultural venue. It is among the halls featured on the Cité musicale de Metz website, where you can find practical information.
A century of digs to date the walls
Nineteenth-century scholars long took the building for Merovingian. The first digs, in 1897-1898, took place in what was then a barracks. Ludwig Reusch returned in 1942-1944 and recorded a Roman hall of about 36 metres by 21, with an apse that is polygonal on the outside. J.-J. Hatt, C. Heitz and later R. Will then uncovered remains of a villa and baths beneath the floor and in front of the facade. The bricks settled the matter: their stamps, CAPOX and ADIVTICE, turn up again at Trier, and archaeomagnetic analysis places them between 370 and 400.
The chancel screen, from the nave pillars to the Cour d'Or museum
The abbey's most famous piece is no longer on site. This stone choir screen, or chancel, was largely recovered during the 1897 excavations. When the hall was divided into three aisles at the end of the 10th century, masons sealed its parts inside the pillars, which preserved the carving. Thirty-eight sculpted slabs and pillars are now kept at the Cour d'Or museum. Interlace, palmettes, serpents and a figure of Christ make up a set dated between the 7th and 8th centuries, though specialists have not reached a final agreement.
Practical information
Address: 1 Rue de la Citadelle, 57000 Metz
Frequently asked questions
Where is it?
1 Rue de la Citadelle, Metz.
Is this monument protected?
Yes, it is a classified historic monument.
Can you visit Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains, and what can be seen from outside?
Yes, depending on the programme: the interior opens for concerts, exhibitions and European Heritage Days. From outside, you can pick out the Roman walls by their courses of brick set between rows of dressed stone.
Where should you stay to reach Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains on foot?
The centre around the cathedral lets you do everything on foot, and the Imperial quarter is handy if you arrive by train. Staylaro's guide « Se loger à Metz » helps you compare the districts and look for accommodation.
Wikimedia Commons — Chris06 · Wikimedia Commons — Marc Ryckaert ( MJJR )
