Nancy

Nancy
Photo by Els Slots.

Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière, and Place d'Alliance in Nancy are 18th-century works of urban planning ordered by an enlightened monarch.

The three squares and the surrounding monuments were developed under the patronage of the Duke of Lorraine, Stanislaw Leszczynsk. The richly decorated squares held a public function: the Opera, the Town Hall, Courts of Law, a library and a botanical garden can be accessed from here.

Community Perspective: Maybe not a world-class sight, but the place has charm. Place Stanislas is the highlight of the three squares.

Map of Nancy

Load map

Community Reviews

Write a review


Jakob Frenzel

Germany - 08-Jun-19 -

Nancy by Jakob Frenzel

August 2018 - After spending the day in and around Verdun we spent the night in Parc naturel régional de Lorraine on a nice campground next to the lake. Unfortunately it was a catastrophic night in terms of weather and our tent got flooded, parts of the campground had to be evacuated. So that morning we decided, that before we go back to Germany, we still take the tunr to see Nancy and Metz.

We arrived in Nancy early in the morning and parked in the vicinity of Place Stanislaw. The WHS is just a few squares and the connecting alleys, but its quite authentic and magnificent with its geometry. We did not spend much time though, since we planned a lot more that day. Nice city to walk around a bit and take some pictures

 


Clyde

Malta - 17-Jul-13 -

Nancy by Clyde

I passed by Nancy a zillion times in the last 5 years but finally I managed to dedicate a sunny afternoon to visit the 3 squares. Place Stanislas is surely the highlight with its gates and fountains. There are several cafes, bars and restaurants with fair prices. When I visited there was a free concert from newly graduated musicians who performed as an orchestra in Place Stanislas. Magical!


Ingemar Eriksson

Sweden - 23-Jun-12 -

Nancy is lovely well kept and well preserved/restored. The Stanislas place is magnificent, there are at least 4 old city gates kept and as whole, the town inside the city ring seems to be intact and there are several magnificent houses outside too.

In Nancy, the trend with restaurants moving out on streets and places in the summer is obvious. Almost impossible to take good photos at some objects because you have "umbrellas" and you are also disturbing the guests when looking at photo angles. (Not especially for Nancy but very obvious at Stanislas Place.)


Els Slots

The Netherlands - 27-Apr-10 -

Nancy by Els Slots

The wrought iron gates with gilded ornaments are the trademark of Place Stanislas. All corners of the square have these gates, so this is the first thing you see when approaching. Wow! The surrounding buildings all are in the same style, as they were carried out within a short period and by the same team.

Place d’Alliance, about 200m eastwards from Place Stanislas, is a whole different experience. It’s a small square surrounded by trees. It looks quite dilapidated, due to a lot of dog shit on the ground and the paint of the monumental Hotel d’Alsace is definitely peeled. The masterpiece here is the fountain that was modelled after the one at Piazza Navona in Rome.

Place de la Carrière is the most classical of the three squares. It lies behind the Arc de Triomphe, on the north side of Place Stanislas. It ends in a semi-circular monument that holds the Palais du Gouvernement.

I visited the squares on foot for about 1.5 hours. I used a walking tour and map that I found at my hotel. There are some other interesting sights underway, like Art Nouveau buildings and an old city gate. It's a nice walk to stretch your legs. The Place Stanislas surely is the major thing to see here.


Frederik Dawson

Netherlands - 03-Sep-06 -

Nancy by Frederik Dawson

Nancy, the capital city of Lorraine in eastern France, does not see a lot of tourists like Strasbourg or Reims. Many tourists just use this city as a transit place and ignore its beautiful city center. The city looks a little bit run down and not attractive, however, the city square, the famous Place Stanislas is totally different with other parts of the city (my ideas is Nancy used its entire city budget to maintain this place). Standing in Place Stanislas gives the feeling like you are in Paris, the royal capital, more than Nancy. The square is full of gilded statues, fountains, gates, lovely city hall, opera house and museums.

The history behind is also very interesting. When the Polish King Stanislas (King Louis XV's father-in-law) exiled to France, his son in law gave the title Duke of Lorraine and allowed him to rule Lorraine as his kingdom. To make the backwater Nancy as royal capital, King Stanislas built new city which has Place Stanislas as a center and use for public assemblies and festivities. This is the symbol of enlightened age and his kingship for Stanislas and his son in law who abled to understand public demands by designed this place for public. (The reason for WHS inscription)

Place Stanislas is in the center of Nancy and not far from the central train station. From the main entrance of the train station, you will see the old and dirty arch gate which part of Stanislas plan is to link old with new city. Walkthrough the gate for about 1 km. passes many somber buildings and you will see Place Stanislas at the end of the street.

In May,2010 I had revisited Nancy and Place Stanislas and discovered the old and dirty arch I mentioned was under renovated and most of the buildings along the road were clean and beautiful, a nice contrast from my previous visit. Also, Nancy is now very easy to visit as a day trip from Strasbourg or Paris or even Germany with the new TGV or stop enroute on your trip but be noted there is no luggage storage service in the Nancy Gare!


Klaus Freisinger

Austria - 01-May-05 -

Nancy doesn't really belong to France's world-class sights and cities, but it has atmosphere, charm, and culture nonetheless. By a curious twist of history, a former king of Poland came to rule Lorraine in the first half of the 18th century and set about transforming the city into something more modern than he had inherited (something like Augustus changing Rome from a city of bricks into one of marble). The result can be seen today, and the squares, palaces, residences, and parks that constitute the historic core of Nancy form a Baroque ensemble that is very pleasant and well-preserved. Again, not an absolute must-see sight, but worth a detour if you are in eastern France.


Site Info

Full Name
Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière, and Place d'Alliance in Nancy
Unesco ID
229
Country
France
Inscribed
1983
Type
Cultural
Criteria
1 4
Categories
Urban landscape - Post-medieval European
Link
By ID

Site History

1983 Inscribed

Locations

The site has 1 locations

Nancy

Visitors

Community Members have visited.

A. Mehmet Haksever Aalberty Adrian Lakomy Adrian Turtschi Afshin Iranpour Airpunk Aitia Alberto Moreno Alberto Peterle Alessandro Alessandro Votta Alexander Barabanov Alexander Lehmann Alfons and Riki Verstraeten Alicemears Allison Vies Ammon Watkins Amy Tull AndreaTLV Anna Wludarska AnnaRt Argo Ari Kailash Aspasia Astraftis Atila Ege Babbil Babbil59 Baudy-Floc h Bazikoln Bill Maurmann Bin Binemitz1983 Bmerei Boj Boroka Szamosi Bram de Bruin Brendan Carroll Brigitte Huber Buzz Caligari Caminographer Carlo.bergonzini Carlos Garrido Carstenhansen Caspar Dechmann Cgrannem Chen Taotao Chenboada Cheryl CherylKla Christer Sundberg Christian Wagner Christoph Christravelblog Claire Bradshaw ClaireWhiteley Cluckily Clyde Cobaltrage Comensal Corinne Vail Craig Harder Cristina Erba Csaba Nováczky Ctravel CugelVance CyBeRr Dachangjin3 Damientournay Dani Cyr Daniel C-Hazard Daniela Hohmann David Berlanda Davied Dimitar Krastev Dirk-pieter Donia Donnico Dorejd Doug Robertson Dutchbirder Dwight Zehuan Xiao ERIC ZHOU Echwel Eljx1988 Ellenmck Els Slots Emvcaest Eric Lorentz Eric PK Erik G Erik Jelinek Errol Neo Esther Westerveld FGKJR1492X FS Fabi-ddorf Fabian Teusch Fan Yibo Farinelli Fderuet Feldhase Femke Roos Filip Murlak Flexiear Fool79 Fozzak Francky D'Hoop Frederik Dawson Frizzle G.L. Ingraham Garyrjtaylor Geert Luiken George Gdanski GeorgeIng61 GerhardM Gernot Gi Giloudepuertorico Glubu Gonçalo Elias Grimloch Gwythyr Hadrianus Harald T. HaraldOest Harry Mitsidis Hasco Headventure Herunen Hubert IOM Iain Jackson If-pilot Ingemar Eriksson Inomusay Isabellemarais Ivan Ivan Rucek Izzet Ege J. Stevens Jagnes Jakob Frenzel Jan-Willem Jana and Matt Janina Lehmann Janis Janklak Jarek Pokrzywnicki Jasam Jean Lecaillon Jeanaimart Jeanne OGrady Jeffrey Chai Ran Jens Jezza Jochem Taanman Joel on the Road John booth Johnson Zhao Jonas Hagung Jonas Kremer Jonboy Jos Schmitz Jose Antonio Collar Joyce van Soest João Aender Jsalda Judit Dalla Judith Tanner Julianna Lees Jun Zhou Juropa Karen Theel KarenBMoore Karin Heyl Kasienka5 Kbecq Kelise Kelly Henry Kenzaseb Khuft Klara Woodson Klaus Freisinger Knut Krafal_74 Krijn Krtek Kutasp Lantian Lara Adler Lauren Laurine Leontine Helleman Lidb93 Lisu Marian Lizzy Lloyd Cross Loic Pedras Lorenzo Mejino Lorenzo2022 Loscuernos@gmx.de Lucas Del Puppo Luis Filipe Gaspar Luisfreire Luki501 MH MHL MaYumin Maciej Gil Maciej Gowin Mademmer Mahuhe MalBee Marie Morlon Mariellex55 Markus Marlies van Wolfswinkel Martijn Martina Librio Martina Rúčková Marty Mathijs Matthewsharris MaxHeAnouBen Małgosia Łupicka Meredith Carter Mibive Michael Ayers Michael Mett MichaelH Michiel Dekker Mihai Dascalu Mike Mikita M Mikko Mikko Syrjä Milan Jirasek Misio_pysio MoPython Monica Monika and Rini Mr20170 Nadia Balduccio Nan Nanvano Nasebaer Nihal Ege Nikolay Marinov Nolan B. NonDuality Olivier MONGIN PJ PKalnai PabloNorte Pang Liang Fong Pascal Cauliez Pat Martin Patphilly Patrick Matgen Patrik Paul Schofield Payen de La Garanderie Isabelle Peter Lööv Petteri Pg280172 Philipp Leu Philipp Peterer Pieter Dijkshoorn Pietprive06@kpnmail.nl Pigi9389 Pincze Polyommatus_icarus Pradip Tripathy Preiki Q Randi Thomsen Reisedachs Rewal Reza Richard van deusen Robin Frank Roel Sterken Roger Ourset Roland Roman Bruehwiler Roman Koeln Ronald Lange Royacurt Ruth Sabrina Liebehentschel Sazanami Schnitzel Sclowitz Seethebee Sergio Arjona Shandos Cleaver Simon Penton Simonh Sinan Sneijder55 Solivagant Sophie Stanislaw Warwas Stephanvermeulen Stijn Strogan Sue hayton Svein Elias Szucs Tamas TRAVELLERMEL Tammy Gouldstone Tasmith87 Thibault Magnien Thijs van den Berg Thomas Buechler Thomas Harold Watson Thomas Kunz Thomas van der Walt TimPick Timmenbashi Tommasorossotti Tony H. Tsunami Usagi1974 VLabhard Van Hung Vanessa Buechler Veelineen Vincent Cheung Vladimir WHS Lux WILLIAM RICH WalGra Walter Walter H. Wang Qin Werner Huber Willem van Altena Wimmy Wojciech Fedoruk Wolfgang Hlousa WolfgangHl Wtrentfox Xiong Wei Yang Chengyu YaroMir Yevhen Ivanovych Yuri Samozvanov Zoë Sheng

The Plaque

  • perspex plaque on Tourist Information Office wall in Place Stanislas, on the left when facing the office and next to the Grand Hotel de la Reine, missing OUV element - 48.69335982807132, 6.184058149314758