St-Pierre-aux-Nonnains
The church Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains (German Sankt Peter auf der Zitadelle or St. Peter zu den Nonnen ) is located in the center of the Lorraine city of Metz on the Rue de la Citadelle. It is considered to be the oldest still existing church building in France .
history
The structure is of Gallo-Roman origin. It was built in the 4th century AD and was initially part of Roman thermal baths . In the 7th century it was consecrated as the church of a Benedictine monastery, the first abbess of which was Walrada of St. Pierre. A little later a choir apse was added to the building . The church underwent further changes in the tenth, 15th and 16th centuries. In the 16th century the nave was given Gothic vaults. In 1552, when Metz was besieged by Charles V's troops , the church was partially destroyed; then the monastery was dissolved. The building served as a storage room well into the 20th century. After several unsuccessful attempts at the beginning of the 20th century and in 1942, the church has been extensively restored since the 1970s. It is currently used as a hall for exhibitions and concerts; it is organizationally connected to the Metz event building, Arsenal.
architecture
The architecture of the church is late antique with later changes. The nave has a length of 36.8 meters. To the east is the semicircular apse, the outer shape of which is polygonal. Opposite it is the central entrance.
literature
- Friedrich Oswald: Pre-Romanesque church buildings. Catalog of the monuments up to the exit of the Ottonen . Munich 1969. (p. 214 f.) ISBN 3-7913-0125-X (reprint from 1990)
- Michelin - The Green Guide : Alsace-Lorraine. 2006. ISBN 978-3-8342-8996-4
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Note on www.heiligenlexikon.de .
Coordinates: 49 ° 6 ′ 54.1 ″ N , 6 ° 10 ′ 10 ″ E