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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Simon-et-Saint-Jude, located in Metz in the present district of the Islands (former Fort-Moselle), is a neoclassical Catholic building erected in the 18th century. Built in 1735 at the initiative of the Canons of Saint Petermont, disciples of Saint Peter Fourier, it is dedicated to the Apostles Simon and Jude, celebrated jointly on October 28. Its location, between the Pont des Morts and the Porte de France, makes it the spiritual center of the Ville-Neuve, including the hamlets of Avant-Les-Ponts and Le Ban-Saint-Martin. The first stone was laid by Claude de Saint-Simon, and the building, completed in 1740, was distinguished by the absence of a bell tower, a strategic measure to prevent it from serving as an enemy landmark in seats.

The church is intimately linked to the military and urban history of Metz. In 1755 Stanislas Leszczynski founded a college there, and in 1778 she hosted the burial of François-Michel Durand de Distroff, a parliamentarian and diplomat. During the Revolution, secularized in 1790, it became "national property" but remained a parish oratory. In the 20th century, in 1921, the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists) took charge of it and launched a pilgrimage to Saint Jude, known for the desperate causes, attracting a crowd of faithful every last Wednesday of the month. Since 1989, the church, its adjacent buildings and Place de France have been listed as historical monuments.

The Fort Moselle district, designed by Marshal Belle Isle and engineer Cormontaigne, saw its central element in the church as early as 1735. Initially chapel of a hospice shelter for the Canons, it serves an extended parish covering several Messin suburbs. Its sober architecture, devoid of bell tower, reflects the military constraints of the period, while its social role evolves over the centuries: place of worship, necropolis for local elites, and then center of popular devotion. Political transformations (Revolution, 19th century) did not alter its religious use, testifying to its resilience in the Messin landscape.

The inscription for historical monuments in 1989 protects not only the building, but also its immediate environment, including the facades of the adjacent buildings (4-9 place de France) and the ground of the square. This recognition underscores its heritage importance, both architectural, with its early neoclassical style, and historical, as marker of the urbanization of Metz under the Old Regime. Today, the church remains an active place of worship, perpetuating a unique pilgrimage tradition in France dedicated to Saint Jude.

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