HISTORIC CITY CENTRE

A large group of 18thC buildings

on UNESCO’s World Heritage List :

Duke Stanislas redeveloped the area linking the old and new towns of Nancy, building his three famous squares (places in French) on the esplanade that had replaced part of the city’s ramparts. From north to south they are the Place de la Carrière, Place Royale (today’s Place Stanislas) and Place d'Alliance, the last two being raised in honour of King Louis XV, the son-in-law of Duke Stanislas, former King of Poland.
UNESCO drew up its first World Heritage List thirty years ago. It now includes 370 sites and monuments all over the world. More than 20 sites in France have been awarded this honour. The magnificent 18thC group of buildings in Nancy has been on the list since December 1983 when it was chosen as being of “truly outstanding interest and representing universal values".

	Place Stanislas Considered the most beautiful royal square in Europe and high point of Nancy’s outstanding collection of 18thC monuments, on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the city of Nancy is known all over the world thanks to Place Stanislas. A magnificent example of Classical French architecture built by Emmanuel Héré, it is surrounded by the wrought-iron worker Jean Lamour’s finely worked railings with gold highlights. The Square’s majestic fountains are by Barthélemy Guibal. Famous buildings surrounding the square include the City Hall, the Theatre-Opera House, the Fine Arts Museum... For more details
	Place d’Alliance This tiny square, smaller and more intimate, is part of Nancy’s UNESCO-listed, 18th C architectural ensemble. It was named in honour of the alliance between the Hapsburg House of Lorraine and the Royal House of France. A magnificent fountain occupies the middle of the square, Cyfflé’s copy of Bernini’s famous fountain in Piazza Navona in Rome. For more details
	Place de la Carriere The third square forming part of the UNESCO-listed 18thC ensemble of buildings and monuments in Nancy, this square was originally laid out in the 16thC when it was used for jousting and tournaments, hence its name  Carrière. It was redeveloped in the 18thC to create a more symmetrical perspective. Two mansions face each other at the entry to the square: Hôtel de Craon (today’s Court of Appeal) and the Bourse de Commerce (today’s Administrative Tribunal). The Palais du Gouvernement lies across the other end, framed by two semicircular colonnades decorated with antique gods. For more details
	Triumphal Arch A copy of Septimus Severus’ Arch in Rome, it glorifies King Louis XV through its ornamentation: bas-reliefs, inscriptions …. It is topped by an acroterium celebrating Louis XV as Victor and Peacemaker and decorated with a medallion of the King. For more details

Nancy Old Town :

This refers to the town which expanded rapidly in the Middle Ages around the Duke’s castle. In the 16thC the most modern defensive walls and bastions of the period were built to protect it. Nothing remains of them today except for a small part of the walls discovered during the renovation of the Fine Arts Museum. The extensive restoration work carried out over the last 15 years makes it one of the high points of Nancy’s heritage.

	The Craffe Gate The oldest part of Nancy’s fortifications, it was built in the 14thC and was subsequently used as a prison for many years. In the 17thC, another gate, called the Notre-Dame Gate, was built to further protect this entrance to the city. The two gates were separated by moats at the time. For more details
	The Citadelle Gate Duke Charles III had this gate built in the 17thC to double up and further reinforce the city’s defences. At the time it was surrounded by four bastions and separated from the Craffe Gate by moats that were gradually filled in over the centuries. The bridges linking the gates were removed in the 19th C when the buildings around the gates were demolished. For more details
	The Duke's Palace The Duke’s Palace, built in the 15thC, was originally the residence of the Dukes of Lorraine. Abandoned by Duke Leopold, who moved to Lunéville in the 18thC, it had a somewhat chequered history before becoming the Lorraine Museum in 1848. It has a remarkable gatehouse, inspired by that in Blois, combining elegant Gothic art with that of the Italian Renaissance. For more details
	The Church of the Cordeliers The Church of the Cordeliers is called after the Franciscan Order whose members wore a cord around their waist. It was built in the 15thC by order of Duke René II, following the Battle of Nancy. Lorraine’s Saint-Denis (burial place of some of France’s famous kings), in spite of many depredations through the ages, it still has some remarkable tombs. The chapel, inspired by that of the Medici’s in Florence, is outstanding. The Cordeliers’ Monastery, adjoining the Church, now holds the Museum of Popular Art and Tradition that presents works illustrating rural life in Lorraine and reconstitutions of Lorraine interiors. For more details
	Haussonville Mansion Named after the priest who built Saint-Epvre's Basilica, Rue Monseigneur Trouillet has a number of beautiful mansions, in particular the Haussonville Mansion. Admire the facade giving onto the courtyard; its beautiful balustrades were carved in two different periods, Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance. The mansion also has a beautiful trompe l’œil doorway. For more details
	The Ferraris Mansion A magnificent private mansion dating from the 18thC, its classic facade hides a sumptuous staircase whose wrought-iron handrail is by Jean Lamour and the painted sky above by Barilli, the great Bibiena’s pupil. The courtyard, typical of the period, has a Neptune fountain. For more details
	The Mansion des loups In Rue des Loups (of the wolves), to which it owes its name, this mansion was built in the 18thC by Germain Boffrand. Its monumental gate is topped by two stone wolves reminding us that its owner was the Duke of Lorraine’s Master of the Wolf Hunt.
	Saint-Epvre basilica and Square The market square and general trading centre in the Middle Ages, the fountain in the middle has a statue of Duke René II of Lorraine, who defeated  Charles the bold, Duke of Burgundy, at the Battle of Nancy in 1477. Built in the 19thC by Prosper Morey, Saint-Epvre’s Basilica is decorated with stained glass and wood panelling in part made in Bavaria. It was richly endowed by Napoleon III, Emperor Franz-Joseph, Ludwig II of Bavaria and Pope Pius... who donated the beautiful stone paving in the choir that came from the Appian Way. For more details

The New Town,

Founded by Duke Charles III in 1588, with its streets all at right angles the New Town has a totally different layout to the Old. It has its own market square and a famous parish church: the Primatial (today’s Cathedral). It was in a position to rival the Old Town as it even had its own independent fortifications. The New Town is in the process of being restored today.

	The Cathedrale Designed by the architects Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Germain Boffrand, it was built at the start of the 18thC. The railings are by Jean Lamour; the cupola was painted by … Jacquard and the organ is a scheduled monument. It has several interesting 17th and 18thC paintings of the Lorraine School. For more details
	Saint-Sebastian's Church Overlooking a very lively open-air market, Saint Sebastian’s Church was built in the 18thC to plans for a hall-church with an incurved facade inspired by that of Saint Agnes in Rome. For more details
	Notre-Dame de Bonsecours Church When the Battle of Nancy came to an end, thousands of corpses were buried in a vast ditch near the Jarville stream. In 1484, a priest obtained Duke René II’s permission to build a chapel and a hermitage there. The sanctuary, named Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours by the Duke, was sometimes called the Church of Our Lady of Victory and the Kings… For more details