Nancy is just south of
Metz in the French region of Lorraine, and, like Metz, it has ancient roots. However, it differed from
Metz in that it was an independent Duchy for much of its history and did not experience a back and forth movement to German and then
French control. It remained mostly under French influence, if not control. When Lorraine passed to the control of the
French King in the early 18th century, he placed it under the control of his father-in-law, the
Polish Duke Stanislas Leszczynski.
After his death in 1766 Lorraine and Nancy reverted to French control. Later in the 18th century, Nancy sent
a goodly contingent of soldiers to aid the American Revolutionary forces against the British.
Its cultural development
included the founding, in the early 20th century, of the School of Nancy, a movement that became known as
Art Nouveau.
the influence of this School can be seen today in many of the buildings in Nancy, including the McDonalds. (
See photos)
There
are
three squares in the city that are listed as
UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
Place Stanislav,
Place Alliance, and
Place
de la Carriere. Place Stanislav is a very large paved open area surrounded by 18th century buildings of classical French architectural
style, beautiful and ornate fences, gates and fountains, which can be seen in our photos. (The Nancy
tourist web site has a
panoramic
view of Stanslav Square (when it comes up, place your mouse on it and move it left or right to pan all around it from a vantage
point at about its center.) Place de la Carriere was once used for jousting, and now contains government buildings also in the
18th century French classic style. Place Alliance is the smallest and most intimate, with a copy of a Bernini fountain in its
center.
Nancy has several other attractions. There is the Cathedral of Nancy, dating from the 18th century. Due
to the surrounding buildings it is difficult to get a good
photo of its exterior, but we include several photos of the interior.
There are museums but we visited only the
Museum of Fine Arts which has works from the 14th to the 21st century, including many
fine French impressionists. Photos are allowed in this museum, so we include a page of photos of some of the paintings in their
collection. Other museums that could be very interesting are the
Lorraine Museum and the
School of Nancy Museum which specializes
in art nouveau. There is a very nice covered market with many stalls selling all kinds of foods. And there is a
botanical
garden, and an
aquarium, both of which we did not have a chance to see.
