. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. ALSACE AND GERMAN LORRAINE. 183 Marsal is an old fortress, which surrendered in 1870 after having been bombarded for an hour. Bokhen (Boulay, 2,520 inhabitants) is the only town in the valley of the Nied. 3Ietz (53,151 inhabitants), the old capital of the department of the Moselle, is an ancient city, deriving its name from the Mediomatrici, the people to whom it belonged before the time of the Romans. Situated on a fertile peninsula formed by the confluence of the Seille and Moselle, and surrounded by low-lying meadows, the town was capable of re
. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. ALSACE AND GERMAN LORRAINE. 183 Marsal is an old fortress, which surrendered in 1870 after having been bombarded for an hour. Bokhen (Boulay, 2,520 inhabitants) is the only town in the valley of the Nied. 3Ietz (53,151 inhabitants), the old capital of the department of the Moselle, is an ancient city, deriving its name from the Mediomatrici, the people to whom it belonged before the time of the Romans. Situated on a fertile peninsula formed by the confluence of the Seille and Moselle, and surrounded by low-lying meadows, the town was capable of resisting attacks ; and attacks were not wanting in the case of a city lying within the debatable frc ntier districts of France and Germany. François de Guise, in 1552, made a stout defence, but in 1870 the town yielded, together with the 170,000 men who had been thrown back into it after the sangui- nary battles of Mars-la-Tour, Bezonville, Gravelotte, and St. Privât. Metz has been much strengthened since it has passed into the hands of Germany. Its entrenched camp, formed by a line of detached forts, has a circum- ference of 15 miles, and there are other works farther away from the town. The outward aspect of the town is the same as before, but its streets are almost deserted. They are narrow and tortuous, and many of the houses are sombre and forbidding in appearance. The cathedral is one of the finest Gothic edifices of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The site of the old citadel has been converted into a public garden, ornamented with the statues of Ney and Fabert, who were born here, as were also Custine, Puixhans, and Pilâtre de Rozier. An abundant supply of water has been procured from the hills above Gorze, about 12 miles to the south-west of the town. Metz is above all things a garrison town, and its manufactories are of less importance than those of the far smaller town of Ars-sur-Mosei/e (5,708 inhabitants), which lies close to the frontier. Metz has much dec
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectgeography, bookyear1883
