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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hotel de Malta is a medieval residence located on Rue des Murs, on the hill Sainte-Croix in Metz. Owned by the order of St John of Jerusalem from 1565 to the Revolution, it is adjacent to the chapel Saint-Genest. Its history is linked to the prosperity of Metz in the 13th and 14th centuries, when the local bourgeoisie erected numerous private hotels, symbols of the wealth of this oligarchic republic.

The site has been occupied since ancient times, as evidenced by archaeological excavations carried out in 1987. Four periods of occupation have been identified, dating back to La Tene finale (I century BC), with Roman traces of the Augustaean and Tiberian eras. The Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, present in Metz since 1196, first moved to the Hospital of Little St John before acquiring the hotel in 1565, in compensation for the destruction caused by the construction of the citadel of Metz.

The hotel was gradually abandoned by Order Commanders in the 18th century, although it remained occupied by a farmer until 1790. After the Revolution, it became a national good and changed hands several times: acquired in 1795 by Nicolas Gentil, then in 1842 by Benoit Arcelin. It then houses the workshop of the glassmakers Laurent-Charles Maréchal and Louis-Napoleon Gugnon, place of intellectual meetings known as the Evenings of the Maréchal workshop.

In the 19th century, the hotel was sold to the Viscount du Coëtlosquet, which donated it to a charity founded by Abbé Risse. An ambulance was installed there during the siege of Metz in 1870. In the 20th century, changes were made, such as the construction of a turret in 1914 (destroyed in 1991) and a garage in 1933. Threatened by destruction in the 1970s, it was finally restored and classified in the additional inventory of historical monuments in 1989.

The excavations and restorations revealed remarkable elements, such as a French ceiling, a blazoned chimney made of cut stone, a 14th century wood-paned structure decorated with murals, and trilobed tympanic windows. These discoveries have made it possible to rediscover the historic character of the hotel, testifying to its heritage importance.

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