Museums of Metz, Metz, France - SpottingHistory.com

The Museums of Metz were founded in 1839. They are also known as the Golden Courtyard Museums, in reference to the palace of Austrasia's kings in Metz, whose buildings they occupy. The collections in this museum(s) are distributed through a 3,500 m² labyrinthal organization of rooms, incorporating the ancient Petites Carmes Abbey, the Chèvremont granary, and the Trinitaires church. The institution is organized into four broad sections: the history and archeological museum, the medieval department, the museum of architecture and the museum of fine arts. The archeological museum contains rich collections of Gallo-Roman finds — extension works to the museums in the 1930s revealed the vestiges of Gallo-Roman baths.

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User Reviews

Banker (5 months ago)
If you like stones and stuff then its for you. A hour walk to see everything. PS: There are some skeletons if you want to see

Asiwaju Samuel (6 months ago)
It's a welcoming environment

gr b (6 months ago)
It was amazing. Super nice people, a lot of interesting and well compressed history, especially about Roman culture in Metz.

Georges Chahine (7 months ago)
Big and well preserved artifacts

Avram Sanders (2 years ago)
This is a really cool museum. Theres lots of information and cool artifacts from both Roman and Medieval times. Make sure to save quite a big chunk of time for this museum because there's a lot to see. The layout is designed well although it can be hard to follow if you don't pay close attention to the map that's given to you. Most of the information is given in French, English, and German, however at one point they kind of just stop giving the latter two and everything goes back to french.

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Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba

The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, also known as the Great Mosque of Córdoba and the Mezquita is regarded as one of the most accomplished monuments of Moorish architecture.

According to a traditional account, a small Visigoth church, the Catholic Basilica of Saint Vincent of Lérins, originally stood on the site. In 784 Abd al-Rahman I ordered construction of the Great Mosque, which was considerably expanded by later Muslim rulers. The mosque underwent numerous subsequent changes: Abd al-Rahman II ordered a new minaret, while in 961 Al-Hakam II enlarged the building and enriched the Mihrab. The last of such reforms was carried out by Almanzor in 987. It was connected to the Caliph"s palace by a raised walkway, mosques within the palaces being the tradition for previous Islamic rulers – as well as Christian Kings who built their palaces adjacent to churches. The Mezquita reached its current dimensions in 987 with the completion of the outer naves and courtyard.

In 1236, Córdoba was conquered by King Ferdinand III of Castile, and the centre of the mosque was converted into a Catholic cathedral. Alfonso X oversaw the construction of the Villaviciosa Chapel and the Royal Chapel within the mosque. The kings who followed added further Christian features, such as King Henry II rebuilding the chapel in the 14th century. The minaret of the mosque was also converted to the bell tower of the cathedral. It was adorned with Santiago de Compostela"s captured cathedral bells. Following a windstorm in 1589, the former minaret was further reinforced by encasing it within a new structure.

The most significant alteration was the building of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the middle of the expansive structure. The insertion was constructed by permission of Charles V, king of Castile and Aragon. Artisans and architects continued to add to the existing structure until the late 18th century.

Architecture

The building"s floor plan is seen to be parallel to some of the earliest mosques built from the very beginning of Islam. It had a rectangular prayer hall with aisles arranged perpendicular to the qibla, the direction towards which Muslims pray. The prayer hall was large and flat, with timber ceilings held up by arches of horseshoe-like appearance.

In planning the mosque, the architects incorporated a number of Roman columns with choice capitals. Some of the columns were already in the Gothic structure; others were sent from various regions of Iberia as presents from the governors of provinces. Ivory, jasper, porphyry, gold, silver, copper, and brass were used in the decorations. Marvellous mosaics and azulejos were designed. Later, the immense temple embodied all the styles of Morisco architecture into one composition.

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