page_title: Metz
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Metz / Economy
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Rue Serpenoise à Metz, Département de la Moselle en Lorraine
context_page_description: Metz Latin: Divodurum Mediomatricorum is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Est region. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, the city forms a central place of the European Greater Region and the SaarLorLux euroregion.
  Metz has a rich 3,000-year-history, having variously been a Celtic oppidum, an important Gallo-Roman city, the Merovingian capital of Austrasia, the birthplace of the Carolingian dynasty, a cradle of the Gregorian chant, and one of the oldest republics in Europe. The city has been steeped in Romance culture, but has been strongly influenced by Germanic culture due to its location and history.
  Because of its historical, cultural, and architectural background, Metz has been submitted on France's UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.
context_section_description: Although the steel industry has historically dominated Moselle's economy, Metz's efforts at economic diversification have created a base in the sectors of commerce, tourism, information technology and the automotive industry. The city is the economic heart of the Lorraine region and around 73,000 people work daily within the urban agglomeration. The transport facilities found in the conurbation, including the international high-speed railway, motorway, inland connections and the local bus rapid transit system, have made the city a transport hub in the heart of the European Union. Metz is home to the biggest harbour handling cereals in France with over 4,000,000 tons/year.
  Metz is home to the Moselle Chamber of Commerce. International companies such as PSA Peugeot Citroën, ArcelorMittal, SFR, and TDF have established plants and centres in the Metz conurbation. Metz is also the regional headquarters of the Caisse d'Epargne and Banque Populaire banking groups.
  Metz is an important commercial centre of northern France with France's biggest retailer federation, consisting of around 2,000 retailers. Important retail companies are found in the city, such as the Galeries Lafayette, the Printemps department store and the Fnac entertainment retail chain. The historic city centre displays one of the largest commercial pedestrian areas in France and a mall, the Saint-Jacques centre. In addition there are several multiplex movie theatres and malls found in the urban agglomeration.
  In recent years, Metz municipality have promoted an ambitious policy of tourism development, including urban revitalization and refurbishment of buildings and public squares. This policy has been spurred by the creation of the Centre Pompidou-Metz in 2010. Since its inauguration, the institution has become the most popular cultural venue in France outside Paris, with 550,000 visitors per year. Meanwhile, Saint-Stephen Cathedral is the most visited building in the city, accommodating 652,000 visitors per year.
caption: Rue Serpenoise, in the main pedestrian area.
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