The Metz Covered Market () is a historic market with permanent stalls and shops in a large covered structure in the historical centre of

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

, capital of the

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

region in France. The Covered Market is one of the oldest, most grandiose in France and is home to traditional local food producers and retailers.

History

Originally built as the bishop's palace, the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

broke out before the Bishop of Metz could move in and the citizens decided to turn it into a food market. In 1762, the

Bishop of Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Es ...

commanded the edification of his palace to Royal architect

Jacques-François Blondel Jacques-François Blondel (8 January 1705 – 9 January 1774) was an 18th-century French architect and teacher. After running his own highly successful school of architecture for many years, he was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Acad ...

. The project was included in a larger urban renovation in a context of

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

. The works began in 1785, but the

in 1789 stops the edification of the palace. The partial building remained vacant until 1821, when it was bought by the municipality of Metz. Messin architect Pierre-Sylvestre Jaunez reconfigured the edifice in order to install a municipal covered market into its walls, a function that it has kept until today.

Architecture and urbanization

The Metz Covered Market is a neo-Classical, U-shaped building extending over . It is located in the historical centre of Metz being adjacent to the

Metz Cathedral Metz Cathedral, otherwise the Cathedral of Saint Stephen, Metz (french: Cathédrale Saint Étienne de Metz), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Metz, capital of Lorraine, France. It is dedicated to Saint Stephen. First begun in the early 14th centu ...

forecourt. The backyard, the Chamber's Square (), is surrounded by numerous local food restaurants. Since the 1970s, The basement of the edifice is used as an underground

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

of 387 parking spaces.

The market

The Metz Covered Market encompasses over 40 shops. It is home to numerous traders, mostly food retailers, including

greengrocer A greengrocer is a person who owns or operates a shop selling primarily fruit and vegetables. The term may also be used to refer to a shop selling primarily produce. It is used predominantly in the United Kingdom and Australia. In the United ...

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesal ...

cheesemaker Cheesemaking (or caseiculture) is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentrat ...

s, and drug dealers. There are also traditional market shops selling fresh, local food, such as

quiche Quiche ( ) is a French tart consisting of pastry crust filled with savoury custard and pieces of cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. A well-known variant is quiche Lorraine, which includes lardons or bacon. Quiche may be served hot, warm or co ...

potée A ''potée'' is a French culinary term which, in general, refers to any preparation cooked in an earthenware pot. More specifically, it refers to a soup or stew made of pork and vegetables, most frequently, cabbage and potatoes of which ''chou ...

, and Lorrain

pâté ''Pâté'' ( , , ) is a paste, pie or loaf filled with a forcemeat. Common forcemeats include ground meat from pork, poultry, fish or beef; fat, vegetables, herbs, spices and either wine or brandy (often cognac or armagnac). It is often served ...

. Every Saturday morning, the Covered Market is surrounded by a street market hold on the

forecourt.

Gallery

File:Marche_couvert_(3672190363).jpg, View of the Covered Market from the Metz Cathedral forecourt. File:Covered_Market_Metz1.jpg, Gallery of the Metz Covered Market. File:Covered_Marker_Metz2.jpg, Gallery of the Metz Covered Market.

References

* * * * {{coord, 49.1201, N, 6.1738, E, source:wikidata, display=title Metz