France - Metz Royal and Imperial City

"With a history of several thousand years, Metz has accumulated over time, an architectural and urban heritage of the first order. Belonging to the Holy Roman Empire, the city enjoyed, in medieval times, a genuine political and economic independence conducive to its cultural development. St. Stephen's Cathedral, one of the most beautiful Gothic vessels from Europe, testifies to the artistic grandeur of that period. Became French in 1552, the city was the subject of preventive demolitions which enabled him to resist the siege of Charles V. Its attachment to the kingdom of France, effective in 1648 by the Treaty of Westphalia, gives therefore a strategic role at European level to Messina city."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Metz - aerial view of St. Etienne's Cathedral, also known as St Stephen of Metz, in Moselle Department, Lorraine. Thanks to Marie from Metz, France. Merci beaucoup.