Streets squares and districts to visit Moselle

Located at the back of the large covered market in Metz, the rue au Blé, although close and discreet, is rich in history. Indeed, its proximity to the city's main market is already testimony to its commercial function. As its name indicates, it used to be used to shelter flour and wheat, merchants'boxes and stalls. Today, we can always distinguish from old, large and sufficiently large doors to be able to store in the courtyard, food. At No. 4 there is a bourgeois house, which is richly decorated, surmounted by a stained glass window showing a cluster of grapes. It would be the home of a wealthy merchant or boss who has made a fortune in trade. The splendour of his home testifies to his social rise.

Now a must, the Place des Charrons, one of the trendiest new places in Metz's Outre-Seille district, where you can have lunch with friends or have a drink on the terrace when the sun comes out. It must be said that the square is not lacking in charm and one succumbs even more when one knows its rich historical past. The headquarters of the Charrons corporations, it is home to the 16th century Hôtel de Burtaigne, among others. Its bold blend of Gothic and Renaissance style will seduce the eye of the passer-by, who will love to discover on the facade, a richest animal repertoire (birds, wild animals and a lion holding a crest).

5 km northwest of the village was built, in the early 1930s, Bataville, a working class city adjacent to the Bata factory, for shoe production. In 1940, more than 811 residents occupied the 276 dwellings. 7 buildings accommodate single people. All homes are made of red bricks made on site, cubic or rectangular with flat roofs. The city is geometric with its perpendicular streets and industrial buildings erected with standardized modules. Everything is done to ensure that employees find what they need on site and do not have to leave Bataville. The inhabitants of the City have a grocery store, a hairdresser, a post office, a laundry, an apprenticeship centre and of course, a shoe store.... There is also a cinema, a swimming pool, a stadium, an aerodrome, a school, a college, a church...

The plant closed in 2002. The following year, the workers' city of Bataville was bought by a real estate company. Most of the units have been renovated, others are under renovation. Currently the site has 129 housing units spread over the communes of Moussey and Réchicourt-le-Château deployed in a pleasant setting. The visit of this very typical district does not lack interest or charm.