In Nancy, urban history, art and natural history offer different ways to shape a stay. The UNESCO-recognised ensemble of three squares is particularly distinctive; Art Nouveau, medieval heritage and living collections offer other perspectives. When planning your visit, you can decide which themes you want to define your stay.
Cityscape and art
Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d’Alliance form one of the most harmonious urban landscapes of the Enlightenment. Together, the three squares create a unified cityscape; Place Stanislas is also home to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy. This offers a way to combine two different cultural perspectives: the design of the cityscape and the museum’s visual art. If you want to understand Nancy through its architecture and cultural history, this combination offers a concrete starting point without treating the two themes as one and the same.
Art Nouveau in Nancy
The Musée de l’École de Nancy is one of the few French museums devoted to Nancy Art Nouveau. It is located on the former estate of collector Eugène Corbin. The Villa Majorelle displays almost 100 pieces of furniture, paintings and art objects from the museum’s collections. The exhibition brings together different types of objects and offers a different way into the subject of art than the Musée de l’École de Nancy’s specialist focus. Villa Majorelle opened to the public in 1997.
Church, dynasty and medieval heritage
The Église des Cordeliers is Nancy’s oldest church and became the dynastic necropolis of the House of Lorraine. The Porte de la Craffe represents another aspect of the city’s medieval heritage: it is the only surviving remnant of Nancy’s medieval fortifications. The two sites therefore raise different historical questions: the church is notable for its dynastic role, while the Porte stands as surviving evidence of the city’s fortifications.
A self-guided walk
The Parcours centre historique is a 3.5 km self-guided walk through Nancy. Alongside individual cultural sites, it offers a separate way to explore the city: you can choose a self-guided circuit as the focus of your visit or organise your stay more around a particular art or history theme. The circuit and an individual museum or building are different planning approaches, not interchangeable stops on a supposed route.
Natural history and getting around
The Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy has two aquarium galleries. Its living collections include around 249 species housed in 45 aquariums designed to recreate natural habitats. The number of species, aquariums and habitats each offer a different perspective on this natural history attraction, setting it clearly apart from art and architectural history.
The Pépinière also has clear reference points to help you find your way: it can be accessed via Place Stanislas, Boulevard du 26e RI and Rue Sigisbert Adam. These three entrances offer different points of reference for getting around Nancy.
Discover more destinations: Briey, Essey-Lès-Nancy, Val-Et-Châtillon, Liverdun, Tellancourt, Allain, Doncourt-Lès-Conflans, Crévéchamps.
For the broader travel overview: Meurthe-Et-Moselle.
