Cathedrals and churches of the Rhine . 113 METZ From across the Moselle, on the height justto the south of the city of Metz, is to be hadone of those widely spread panoramas whichdefy the artist or the photographer to repro-duce. There is an old French saying that theRhine had power; the Rhone impetuosity;the Loire nobility; and the Moselle eleganceand grace. This last is well shown in thecharming river-bottom which spreads itselfabout the ancient Mediomatricorum, as Metzwas known to the Romans. The enormously tall nave and transepts ofthe cathedral of Metz dominate every otherstructure in the
Cathedrals and churches of the Rhine . 113 METZ From across the Moselle, on the height justto the south of the city of Metz, is to be hadone of those widely spread panoramas whichdefy the artist or the photographer to repro-duce. There is an old French saying that theRhine had power; the Rhone impetuosity;the Loire nobility; and the Moselle eleganceand grace. This last is well shown in thecharming river-bottom which spreads itselfabout the ancient Mediomatricorum, as Metzwas known to the Romans. The enormously tall nave and transepts ofthe cathedral of Metz dominate every otherstructure in the city, in a fashion quite in keep-ing with the strategic importance of the placefrom a military point of view. Time was when ecclesiastical affairs andmilitary matters were much more closely al-lied than now, and certainly if there was any 114 ^^ r^. ^ ?— (J «i^ /.• Metz Cathedrals and Churches of the Rhine inspiration to be got from a highly impressivereligious monument in their midst, the war-riors of another day, at Metz, must have feltthat they were doubly blessed. Since the Franco-Prussian war, Metz, withStrasburg, has become transformed; but itsancient monuments still exist to charm andgratify the antiquarian. Indeed, it was asrecently as 1900 that the Tour des Lennyers,a wonderful structure of Roman times, wasdiscovered. Metz was fortified as early as in the thirdcentury, and to-day its walls and moats,though modern, — the work of Vauban, —are still wonders of their kind. In the Roman period the city was of greatimportance. In the fifth century it was at-tacked, taken, and destroyed by the Huns;but, when it was rebuilt and became the cap-ital of Austrasia, its prosperity grew 1552 the Due de Montmorenci made him-self master of the city, and some months laterHenri II. made his entree. During the win-ter
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