Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Old Bridge of Moulins-lès-Metz is a stone work that began in the late 15th century, replacing an old wooden bridge. The six arches on the Moulins side, the oldest, reproduce the style of Metz's medieval bridges, with double arches of cut stone and concentric grooves. This bridge played a strategic role during the siege of Metz in 1552-1553, where the Duke of Albe destroyed five arches to obstruct enemy movements.

After the siege, temporary structural spans were installed, but it was only in the 18th century that the five arches on the Montigny-lès-Metz side were rebuilt in stone, adopting the style of the Messinian bridges of the time, like that of the Basses-Grilles (1745). In 1730, a last wooden span was replaced by a masonry arch, completing its present structure of eleven arches, devoid of a back-beek but equipped with a fore-beek in a warhead.

The bridge, 174 meters long and 7.35 meters wide, crosses an old arm of the Moselle, abandoned by the river between 1614 and 1631. Although the bed gradually filled, it remained partially active during the floods until 1865. Ranked a historic monument on October 30, 1989, it now bears witness to the evolution of construction techniques and military issues in the region.

Architecturally, the bridge is distinguished by its two contrasting styles: the more recent (XVIII century) western arches use dotted bellows and smooth-cut stones, while the eastern, medieval arches retain crepi-covered blocks and prominent double arches. These differences illustrate the transitions between the late Gothic and classical periods in Lorraine.

External links