Dieulouard is a municipality of Meurthe-et-Moselle, in Grand East region, 25 km north of Nancy.
The locality in the territory of 17 km² is essentially on the left bank of the Moselle whose course, dominated by limestone cliffs, is long by its canal and is divided into two arms.
These landscapes fall under "Switzerland Lorraine" and remain rural (more than 50% of agricultural land, 20% wood, 8% grassland are identified).
The origin of the municipality goes back to antiquity when the Gallo-Roman city of Scarpone is formed on an island of Moselle, which will be erected as a county. It is destroyed shortly after the year 1000 by the King of Germania. In the meantime, nearby, the village of Dieulouard around a castle dependent on the bishop of Verdun where the inhabitants of Scarpone find refuge there.
This castle is destroyed in 1660 by Louis XIV a little more than a century after the attachment of Dieulouard to France.
Of this agitated past but enriched by the establishment of a college that has become priory, Dieulouard which now counts nearly 4,800 inhabitants, has kept a rich heritage that completes an offer of cultural recreation and "nature" justifying a stage during a Stay in Lorraine.
Traces of the Roman road which then connected Reims to Metz, remnants of the ramparts which protected the ancient city of Scarpone prove to reveal the oldest heritage elements of the municipality.
However, it is the site of its former episcopal castle that is now the pride of the small town. Built on the edge of the second millennium, several times reworked to adapt to the evolution of the artillery, it is described as a powerful fortress in the 15th century with its facade of 100 m long turned east, a pregnant in the semicircle west, eight square or cylindrical towers and crenellated walls... dismantled by Louis XIV, sold to the revolution where it is shared in several homes, the castle entered in the inventory was the subject to from the 1970s of catering campaigns (especially at the Old Logis). It houses an associative museum dedicated to archeology and the history of the locality. Open Sunday from March to November or appointment for groups. Price: 1.50 and 2.50 euros. Information on +33 6 64 87 58 17.
Finally, to note that in the courtyard of the castle has been arranged a medieval garden comprising vegetable garden, aromatic and medicinal plants. Pedagogical panels have been installed highlighting the work done by college students to create this garden has become a pleasant goal of walking.
Next, the Saint-Sebastian church dates from the beginning of the 16th and presents a Gothic style. The portal is posterior (eighteenth), but has a niche with the statue of the saint. A medieval crypt is located under the choir itself with carved oak woodwork, to which one accesses by a staircase dug into the rock. We notice at this level of the Romanesque windows. The church houses old burials, stained glass windows evoking local history and we finally observe a singularity: the envelopes of two German bombs fallen on the church without exploding during the first war were affixed to pillars of the NEF! At the time, the faithful had considered the event like miraculous...
It also agrees to visit the site of the Chapel of Notre-Dame des Airs, raised there again after the first war on the hill overlooking the ancient scarpone and the Moselle. 17 m high square base tower, the building is capped by a cast iron statue of the virgin itself up 3 m. Inside, are engraved on marble plates the names of the soldiers originating in Dieulouard dead for France.
In the city, are still to see the elements of the former Collegiate Saint-Laurent located in the eleventh century, several times reworked and occupied by different orders. It remains a cloister with ogival berries, foothills with sculpted capitals and an 18th-century gateway, shortly before most of the monastery is destroyed.
The house of the dooms (rue Doer Boulot) whose elements date back to the 15th century and still presents mullion windows, a carved lintel and ceilings in French beams and the castle Urion (Avenue de Gaulle), beautiful house of the nineteenth. century in a park, complete this overview.
In terms of cultural recreation, the Zules Ferry Street area includes dance shows and concerts. Contact on +33 3 83 23 76 96. As for the media library, it regularly offers readings, meetings or exhibitions. Information at +33 3 83 23 43 50.
For sportsmen and leisure lovers "nature", are accessible a city stadium and tennis courts (reservation at the local club on +33 6 83 57 21 91).
On the edge of the Moselle, its canal or at the ponds that the arms of the river, fishermen can enjoy fitted sites. Inquire at +33 6 20 94 18 99.
The banks of the Moselle, again, the hilly landscapes of the "Swiss Lorraine" and the wooded plots of the municipality can also give rise to pleasant hikes. Some courses can drive for example to Pont-à-Mousson. Maps and information at +33 3 83 81 06 90.
Finally, Dieulouard appearing in the perimeter of the Regional Natural Park of Lorraine, which regularly programmed thematic hikes, exhibitions and animations, do not hesitate to contact +33 3 83 81 67 67 to know the calendar.
