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'{{for|other uses of Metz|Metz (disambiguation)}} [[Image:Cathedrale-saint-etienne-metz-de-place-prefecture.jpg|right|thumb|220px||Metz Cathedral]] '''Metz Cathedral''' or '''St. Stephen's Cathedral''' in [[Metz]] (''Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz''), in the département of [[Moselle]], [[France]], is the seat of the [[Bishop of Metz]]. It was formed in the 14th century by joining together two churches: the nave of Saint-Etienne, built in the 13th century, was attached to the north side of an older [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] church. It is found in the heart of the city, on the ''Place d'Armes'', where it provides a focal point for the "centre ville". In the 15th century, a transept and a choir were added. This nave is the third highest in France with its 41.41 meters. Only [[Beauvais Cathedral]] and [[Amiens Cathedral]] are higher. == History == [[Image:Cathedrale Metz Nef pano.jpg|thumb||upright|right|200px|The nave is over forty meters high]] The site was consecrated from the fifth century to [[Saint Stephen|Saint Stephen Protomartyr]], who enjoyed a wave of popularity following the invention of his relics at Jerusalem in 415. Several French cathedrals are dedicated to him: [[Agde Cathedral|Agde]], [[Auxerre Cathedral|Auxerre]], [[Bourges Cathedral|Bourges]], [[Cahors Cathedral|Chors]], [[Châlons Cathedral|Châlons-en-Champagne]], [[Limoges Cathedral|Limoges]], [[Meaux Cathedral|Meaux]], [[Sens Cathedral|Sens]], [[Toul Cathedral|Toul]], [[Toulouse Cathedral|Toulouse]], most of them also dating from the fifth century. Metz had been the seat of a bishop since the third century. [[Gregory of Tours]]<ref>Gregory, ''[[Historia Francorum]]'', II.6.</ref> reports the tradition that the shrine of Saint Stephen was the sole structure miraculously spared when the [[Huns]] sacked and levelled the city, 7 April 451. According to the history of the bishops of Metz, written about 784 by a Lombard Benedictine, [[Pepin the Short]] financed works undertaken by bishop [[Chrodegang of Metz|Chrodegang]] (742-766): [[ciborium]], chancel, presbyterium and ambulatory. All these were replaced by the [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] building campaign, 965-984 undertaken by Bishop Thierry I, under the patronage of Emperors [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] and [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]]. The new basilica was completed and reconsecrated in 1040 by his successor, Thierry II. Within two centuries a reconstruction commenced. About 1220, the building campaign in [[Gothic architecture|Gothic style]] was begun, to the order of Bishop Conrad of Scharfeneck. It was not completed until about 1520. The new cathedral was consecrated on 11 April 1552. Unexpectedly, the cathedral has an [[Neoclassical architecture|early neoclassical]] portal, designed in 1764, in spite of the canons' resistance, by the Parisian architect [[Jacques-François Blondel]]. The project was due to the governor of the Trois-Evêchés, the maréchal de Belle-Isle, who decided that Metz should not be outdone by [[Nancy]], with its Place Stanislas, and determined to build a ''Place Royal'' before the Gothic cathedral. He disengaged the cathedral's façade by razing the cloister and three attached churches, Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, Saint-Pierre-le-Majeur and the chapel of the House of Lorrain. Blondel was engaged to give the dense medieval city centre of Metz a space, to act as a stylish urban focus. The resulting design, realised from 1762 onwards, produced the Place d’Armes for military musters and parades, with its mayoral palace, the Place de Chambre with the new bishops' palace, and the Place du Marché, ranged on three sides of the cathedral, which together provide a unified classicising setting that plays against the Gothic fabric of the cathedral. == Windows == [[Image:Vitraux Cathedrale Metz.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Stained glass in Metz Cathedral]] The [[stained glass window]]s, the largest expanses of stained glass in the world, were made by the master craftsmen Hermann de Munster in the fourteenth century, and Valentin Bousch in the sixteenth. In the twentieth century the artist [[Marc Chagall]] created 19 stained glass windows for the cathedral between 1958 and 1968. Roger Bissière provided designs for further windows. ==See also== {{commonscat|Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz|Metz Cathedral}} *[[List of highest church naves]] *[[List of tallest churches]] ==External links== * [http://www.gotik-romanik.de/Metz%20Thumbnails/Thumbnails.html Photos ] ==Notes== {{reflist}} [[Category:Metz]] [[Category:Cathedrals in France|Metz]] [[ca:Catedral de Saint-Étienne de Metz]] [[de:Kathedrale von Metz]] [[fr:Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz]] [[id:Katedral Metz]] [[he:קתדרלת מץ]] [[nl:Kathedraal van Metz]] [[pl:Katedra św. Stefana w Metzu]] [[pt:Catedral Saint Etienne]] [[ru:Собор Святого Стефана (Мец)]] [[zh:梅斯大教堂]]'