Saint Pierre aux Nonnains church

The complex you are now looking at is the church of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains. Built in the 4th century, it is one of the oldest churches in the world! If it’s still standing today, it’s mainly because it has adapted to the needs of each era. In fact, it has been deconsecrated and is part of the same complex as the Arsenal, playing an important role in the cultural life of Metz. In Roman times, it is believed that the building was used as a palestra and integrated into a vast thermal complex. A palestra is a set of sports facilities. In 451, you may remember that the fearsome Attila, leader of the Huns, besieged the city of Metz and massacred its inhabitants! Metz took a while to recover, and the Huns were eventually defeated at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains by Aetius, retreating across the Rhine, leaving the field open to our ancestors, the Franks. Anyway, in the 7th century, the abandoned site became the chapel of the Benedictine abbey, and then, in the 10th century, thanks to donations from Emperor Otto, the church was profoundly transformed. The nave was divided into three, a fore-nave was created, in short, it modernized. Same story in the 15th century, this time with Gothic vaults on ribbed vaults. But in 1552, the city of Metz was besieged again, and during the construction of the citadel in 1556, the building lost its religious connotation to be integrated into the complex and used as a military warehouse. In 1946, it was handed over to the city just like the other military buildings and transformed yet again, perhaps for the last time. The whole complex is a listed historic monument.