Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TypeCoin971793, post: 3269325, member: 78244&quot;]My “one coin from each city I visited” collection is finally complete, so I think it would be a fun thread to share the coins, pictures and history from each of the cities I visited. I will be posting one city per day, in the order which I visited them. There will be some repeats, but luckily I have some extra coins from these cities. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>So without further ado, let’s start with Metz as it is the first city I stayed in after flying into Paris. The first week was rather hectic as friends were made, food was bought, class schedules were figured out, and logistics were mapped out.</p><p><br /></p><p>During my first trip downtown, I was greeted with a row of 19th Century building of German style from when Metz was under German control. It was during this time that Metz got its German spelling, which was converted from Metensis (or Mettis or Metes). Since the French and the Germans didn’t have the most amicable relationship during the 19th and 20th centuries, the people of Metz try to pronounce the city’s name as “Mess” to avoid the German pronunciation.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]861936[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This was early January, so it was chilly and windy. Thus I limited my meandering to the area around the Republique bus station (pictured above). One of the first things I saw was some remnants of the Merovingian era of Metz: the Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains. This basilica was a Roman bathhouse constructed in 380 AD, and was converted to a church in the 7th Century. In the 8th Century, the monks here invented Gregorian chant and a system of musical notation called neumes. These would develop into music as we know it today.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Merovingians set Metz as their Austrasian capitol, and the people of Metz supported the rulers. When Charlemagne came to power, he recalled this and nearly made Metz his city of residence. However, he chose Aachen instead, but both of his sons loved Metz enough to be buried in the basilica.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]861937[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is a crumbling wall and interesting floor pattern from the bathhouse. I took one of the pieces of stone that had already fallen off of the wall to represent this building (which is my favorite building in Metz).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]861938[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is another view of the bathhouse accompanied by some Roman pillars and a medieval house. There were several casket-shaped stones in the yard of the house (most easily seen in the far left of the picture), which I assumed to be graves. There were no markings on the stones to suggest one way or another, and their placement was very puzzling.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]861940[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Right next door was this structure. It is a church built by the Knights Templar between 1180 and 1220. The Templars first came to Metz in 1133 and stayed until the order was abolished. Much of the adjoining structure was destroyed when the order was abolished, fortunately leaving the church standing. There are some beautiful stained glass windows, but some of the young troublemakers found it prudent to throw rock as these windows and shatter some of the panes. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]861941[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I will go more in-depth in the history of Metz in future posts. As I learned more about the city, I made my visits downtown more deliberate to find the historic areas or buildings with stories. Stay tuned!</p><p><br /></p><p>Pictured here is a denier struck in the 8th Century under Merovingian Metz. I got this coin for about half of the going rate from a British auction. The design is very simple and I have yet to see one heavily circulated, but they are very scarce (almost rare). The obverse contains a D, likely for “Denarius”, and the reverse contains a ligate ME, likely for “Mettis”.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]861983[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Also pictured here is a gros struck in Metz between 1380 and 1550 (likely in the early part of that range due to the style). I bought this coin right before I left for Europe, so it is quite special despite being bent. The city’s name was abbreviated on this coin to METE, likely abbreviated from Metensis, the name used before and after this coin was struck.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]861943[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in