A new Pompidou Centre Museum increases the draw to this historic and already architecturally rich French city

Metz, France, a historic, mid-sized city halfway between Paris and the German border, has been blessed with an enviable array of attractions. Visitors in the know—mainly from elsewhere in France and its three border nations of Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg—have long come to explore the city’s Saint Etienne cathedral (one of the tallest in Europe), a pleasantly verdant riverside, distinctive yellow limestone Renaissance ar­chitec­ture, and lush parks and tree-lined boulevards.

Last year, though, the city added one more must-see: the Centre Pompidou–Metz, a satellite branch of the Centre Pompidou, a Parisian mecca for aficionados of 20th-­century art, named for the former French President Georges Pompidou. Extending the museum’s reach, the Metz branch offers a surefire route to putting this town of 125,000 squarely on the international tourist map.

Historic Metz
Wrapped between the arms of the Moselle and Seille rivers, Metz’s roots lie in Roman times, and it even has the baths to prove it. But, like much of Europe, the city reached its apogee during the Renaissance, when it flourished under the German flag. The city landed in French turf for the first time in the 17th century with the Peace of Westphalia treaties.
Since then, its history has seen the city flip-flopping between the two nations. In 1871, the Treaty of Frankfurt annexed it once again to Germany; a few decades later, courtesy of the Treaty of Versailles, it was returned to France in 1919, only to fall under German rule once again during World War II. The constant intertwining of cultures has lent a distinctly Teutonic touch to everything in Metz (roughly pronounced as “mess”), from its architecture to its food.

Metz Goes Modern
The Centre Pompidou–Metz, though, is its own thing, and thoroughly modern. Opened in May 2010, this Shigeru Ban-designed outpost is itself a thoughtful and lofty work of art that pays homage to its host city and adds still more dramatic appeal to its skyline. An undulating structure that, the architect has said, takes its conical shape from a Chinese peasant’s hat, the building features a woven wood roof covered with a fiberglass and Teflon membrane.

The museum’s gallery spaces are reserved for revolving exhibits, drawn from the institution’s collection, and there’s a lot here. Its opening exhibition, “Chefs d’Oeuvre? (Masterpieces?),” questioned the idea of canonical work—who decides which work is a masterpiece, and once decided, does that work stay a masterpiece forever? The artists on display—everyone from Miro to Picasso, from Duchamp to Dali—were familiar, but the works selected, and the manner in which they were juxtaposed, forced viewers to reconsider everything they know about these often over-exposed artists.

Ultimately, however, it’s the building itself that may prove to be of the greatest interest, much like Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The Centre Pompidou–Metz’s dynamic presence, so apparent from the outside, makes for a visibly exciting interior as well. Check out the spectacular second-story picture windows that frame a view of the rest of the city, in particular its beloved cathedral.

Development by Design
Besides its function as a museum, the satellite is poised to accelerate development in a downtrodden section of Metz, literally on the wrong side of the tracks of the city’s magnificent train station. When Metz was selected as the site for the new museum, plans immediately went into effect to extend France's high-speed TGV line to the city. The new route beat the museum by more than two years, and significantly reduced travel times between Paris and Metz to fewer than 90 minutes.

Plans also call for a mixed-use development project that will have residents living and working here and travelers staying overnight at a promised hotel. For now, though, this area—formerly the home of a Roman amphitheater (the new neighborhood is, in fact, called the Amphitheater District), then fair grounds, and lately abandoned railroad tracks—remains a site of empty lots and bustling cranes.

Pairing with the museum as the city’s standout at this end is the central train station, which links to the Pompidou via a new pedestrian bridge. The entry to the so-called Imperial District, intended to showcase the glories of the Reich, this crenulated Romanesque Revival structure of red stones lies at the heart of a fine example of town planning designed to ease military parade routes. It even features a clock tower supposedly designed by Kaiser Wilhelm, as well as a more modern addition: soaring lampposts crafted by the ubiquitous designer Philippe Starck.

From this portal, it’s a short walk to one of the city’s other stellar offerings: the High Gothic Cathedral of St. Etienne, with its buttresses all a-flying and its stained glass a-glowing. Even the cathedral-weary will find it an amazing site. Created by joining two older churches, this soaring space offers the third-tallest nave in France and, by some counts, the greatest expanse of stained glass—including a few pieces crafted by Marc Chagall—on the entire continent.

Photo and Food Ops
On your way to lunch, meander along Metz’s riverside esplanade—there are some great photo ops from here of the Romanesque Temple Neuf, situated on a tiny island in the river. Then treat yourself to a Michelin-starred meal at Le Magasin aux Vivres, part of a hotel located inside the city’s 16th-century citadel. Also here: gardens, the arsenal, the Governor’s Palace and St. Pierre Aux Nonnains Abbey, one of the oldest churches in France and originally built as a Roman gymnasium before being converted to a Christian place of worship in the 7th century.

For a late afternoon snack, indulge in some form of the Lorraine Valley’s signature fruit: the mirabelle, a kind of plum that in color and sweetness actually resembles an apricot. You’ll find its byproducts, from jams to tarts to wines, all over town in gift shops, gourmet food stores and in countless cafes.

If you can, stick around until nightfall—which in the summer, arrives as late as 10 p.m.—to see why this city really shines. That’s when more than 10,000 floodlights cast their magic upon a host of treasures, staging a show for all of Metz’s golden ages and imbuing its celebrated yellow-limestone façades with a timeless glow.

If You Go

Metz Tourism
tourisme.mairie-metz.fr/en

SNCF (France Rail)
www.sncf.com/en_EN/flash/

Centre Pompidou–Metz
www.centrepompidou-metz.fr

Restaurant Le Magasin aux Vivre
www.citadelle-metz.com/uk

JoAnn Greco is a freelance writer who has specialized in travel, arts and design, architecture and planning, and lifestyle since 1991. She has written for National Geographic Traveler, The Washington Post, Art & Antiques, Conde Nast Portfolio.com, Newsday, Historic Traveler, CNN.com, USA Today, and many others. She is from Philadelphia and can be reached at jphila@aol.com.