Attractions and Places To See around Metz-En-Couture - Top 15

For bikepacking trips, A magnificent base for cycle touring. It's a place steeped in history, peaceful, and surrounded by lush greenery. Don't miss the hamlet of Revelon or a visit to the source of the Scheldt River in Gouy (right next door). Happy riding! 🚴‍♀️ Franck

Some very beautiful remains to discover during a hike 😉.

This watering trough is probably a distant legacy of the Cistercian monks of Vaucelles. Nestled in the pastures surrounding the farm, it is fed by the nearby fountain, which filters the water and is itself fed by water from the Saint-Bernard spring, via an aqueduct. Hence the name of the bicycle trail "des sources" 😎.

This Cistercian abbey was founded in 1132 by Bernard of Clairvaux and grew into a large and influential community within a century. Royal armies camped there as in a fortress and Charles V signed peace with Henry II in 1556. In addition to the sick and outcasts, travellers and pilgrims also found shelter in the hospital. The largest abbey church in Europe stood here with an extraordinary length of 135 metres. On feast days, 3000 meals were provided to the needy in the wide area. After the French Revolution, it was declared national property and an inglorious end followed as an open-air quarry. Now, restored parts remain, such as the abbot's palace with the dormitories and monks' halls with the chapter house next to it. The 7-hectare abbey park is being restored to its former glory. Open March to November (Tue-Sat 10am-12pm and 2pm-5.30pm, Sun 3pm-6.30pm, closed Mondays).

The national necropolis of Moislains, known as the Charentais cemetery, gathers the remains of soldiers who fell for France during the fighting that took place around this village on 28 August 1914. This national cemetery, created at the end of these clashes, was built successively in 1923-1924 and in 1944. This necropolis brings together 465 bodies, including the French, 99 in individual graves and 366 in an ossuary. Since 1924, this necropolis has housed a memorial in honour of the memory of these fighters who came mainly from Angoulême and Bergerac. At the foot of this monument, an oak coffin from Puy-de-Nelle (commune of Charente) was placed in 1960. Made by Gaston Rofidal, former non-commissioned officer in the 307th Infantry Regiment (RI) during the war, this chest symbolically contains various soil samples taken from the communes of Charente. Because it suffered from the vagaries of time, it was replaced in 2014.

The Monument aux Morts in Barastre is a war memorial commemorating the victims of the First World War. The monument is located on the Place de la Mairie in Barastre, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department, located in the Hauts-de-France region in north-eastern France1. The monument was erected in 1922 and lists the names of the victims of the town who died during the war.

A farming village located 30 km south-east of Arras on the D20. The entire commune was destroyed during the First World War. History During the First World War, the village was occupied by British troops in March 1917, before being lost to the Germans a year later. The village was retaken on 5 September after an advance by the British 42nd Division (East Lancashire). The cemetery contains the graves of almost 10 British soldiers (one of whom was buried by the Germans in 1916). The extension to the cemetery contains the graves of 284 German soldiers, 46 French, 39 British, four New Zealanders and one Australian. The commune was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1920.

Parts of this gigantic abbey are interesting to visit. The church has disappeared but must have been enormous. Beautiful garden and shop with, among other things, abbey beer.