Metz - Cathedral of St Etienne

The central feature of the picturesque old town of Metz with its narrow streets and lanes and old houses is the Place d'Armes, in which are the cathedral and the 18th century Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall).

The Cathedral of St-Etienne, a handsome Gothic building of yellow sandstone flanked by two slender towers, was built between 1250 and 1380 on a unified plan, incorporating the earlier church of Notre-Dame-la-Ronde; the choir dates from the early 16th C. The porch and the doorway into the south aisle under the Tour de Mutte (with the famous Mutte, a large bell dating from 1605) are modern. On the Place d'Armes front, set at an angle to the facade, is the Portail de la Vierge (C. 1240), with old reliefs in the porch, in the tympanum and on the left-hand lintel (procession of the Apostles); the reliefs on the right-hand lintel are copies, based on the damaged originals by the Master of Naumburg (now in the cathedral workshops).