Metz Citadel

[2] Completed around 1564, the citadel reinforced the south-west sector of the city's medieval ramparts, which had proved the hardest area to crack during the siege but could no longer be adapted to advances in artillery.

The porte Serpenois next to it is now only decorative and the former ditches have given way to green spaces such as the Esplanade de Metzand the jardin Boufflers.

The Esplanade's gardens below place de la République were extended after the citadel's destruction and occupy the site of the former ditches dug in 1816.

[3] The Governor's Palace was built by the Germans at the start of the 20th century on the site of a bastion of the dismantled citadel.

Several Roman monuments and ramparts were brought to light on the site[4] as well as the medieval Tour d'Enfer tower in the subsoil of the gardens.