Place Saint-Jacques (Metz)

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Place Saint-Jacques

Place Saint-Jacques (German Jakobsplatz ) is a square in the historic center of Metz . It is in front of the shopping center of the same name, which opened in 1976, and between Rue Fabert and Ladoucette . It is designed as a pedestrian zone and is not far from Place d'Armes with the cathedral of Metz .

Toponyms

  • Place Saint-Jacques (1137 - 1609–1698)
  • Place Derrière-Saint-Sauveur (1698–1773)
  • Place de la République (1792)
  • Place d'Austerlitz (1806-1815)
  • Place Saint-Jacques (1816-1830)
  • Place d'Austerlitz (1831–1874)
  • Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine : Jakobsplatz (1874–1918)
  • Place Saint-Jacques
  • CdZ area Lorraine : Jakobsplatz (1940–1944)
  • Place Saint-Jacques

history

The name of the square is derived from the adjacent church of St. Jakob , which was closed in 1574. A Saint-Jacques fountain was built on the square in front of the collegiate monastery of St. Sauveur (Church of the Redeemer) as early as the 15th century (more precisely: 1498). The fountain was destroyed in 1730 and rebuilt around 1759 on the corner of Rue de Ladoucette and Petit Paris . The stone sculpture of the Apostle James the Elder was destroyed during the Revolution, the remains were later transferred to Rue du Pont-des-Morts .

In the period from 1832 to 1907, a hall covered the entire square where vegetables and flowers were sold. Every year on December 26th, the employment relationships of dependent employees began and ended and people met on the square to look for work.

Place Saint-Jacques is appreciated for its numerous cafes and restaurants , especially in the open-air season.

Notre-Dame de Metz, the Marian column

During the series of five German offensives towards the end of the First World War , the Catholics of Metz feared that their city would become the scene of another battle. They prayed with their bishop Willibrord Benzler that the war would end well and vowed to erect a statue of the “ Holy Virgin ” if the city were spared the fighting. The Place Saint-Jacques was planned as a location because of its central location and proximity to the cathedral. Bishop Willibrord Benzler accepted the votive offering as a token of thanks for the salvation, but did not live to see the pledge being carried out, as he resigned in January 1919 because of his German nationality and died in 1921. The statue was dedicated on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in 1924.

The monument was consecrated by Bishop Jean-Baptiste Pelt , the new Bishop of Metz, in the presence of Mgr. Ruch , Bishop of Strasbourg and Bishop Alphonse-Gabriel Foucault , Bishop of Saint-Dié . Before that, André du Bois de La Villerabel , Archbishop of Rouen and Primate of Normandy , gave a speech. The monument consists of an Ionic column in Pierre de Jaumont ( Oolithic limestone of ancient Metz) eight meters high and is the work of Max Braemer , while the one-meter-ninety-high bronze statue is the work of the sculptor Jacques Martin.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mirroir du temps de Metz - Rue de Ladoucette. Consulté le 18 août 2010
  2. ^ Almanach de Marie-Immaculée , 1925

 Web links

Coordinates: 49 ° 7 ′ 7 ″  N , 6 ° 10 ′ 33.6 ″  E