Ville de la Meuse, in the Grand Est region, Saint-Mihiel is located halfway between Bar-le-Duc and Verdun, about fifty kilometers north-west of Nancy.
Populated since prehistoric times, the territory of Saint-Mihiel only really developed at the time of the High Middle Ages. Originally home to an abbey, the town knows its heyday in the sixteenth century period of the Lorraine Renaissance. At this time, many shops and other mansions come to embellish the city which sees its craftwork to develop. Heavily affected by the horrors of the First World War, she bounced back and offered the charming face she presents today.
Saint-Mihiel has an architectural and historical heritage of great interest, revealing the rich past of the town. Food lovers will also be seduced by local specialties such as croquet and rocks of Saint-Mihiel.
The Benedictine Abbey Saint-Michel was founded in the Merovingian period, before becoming an important center of study under the Carolingians. Completely rebuilt in the 18th century, it is listed as a Historic Monument for its facades, roofs, chapter rooms, and the galleries of its cloister, and listed as a Historical Monument for its library and its staircase of honor. Its library houses nearly 9000 books, including more than eighty incunabula. The site now hosts the Museum of Sacred Art. The Saint-Michel church also belongs to this abbey complex. Strongly remodeled in the eighteenth century, like the rest of the buildings, it retains a Romanesque tower-porch and allows you to admire the Pâmoison of the Virgin of Ligier Richier.
Listed as an historic monument, the Saint-Etienne church was built before the 8th century. Enlarged at the beginning of the 16th century, it is also renovated in the 19th century, removing all the original elements. The building is mainly known for its astonishing sepulcher, the work of Ligier Richier, a Lorraine artist of the Renaissance. This burial was carried out in the middle of the sixteenth century and consists of thirteen characters, including Christ, Mary Magdalene, Veronica or Salome.
While strolling, you can also admire the Notre-Dame-des-Prés chapel, the old Saint-Christophe abbey, or the Sainte-Agathe chapel which originally depended on a leprosarium.
The streets of Saint-Mihiel unveil many monuments of great interest as the old town hall whose facade dates from the eighteenth century, the cafe Arcades, home of the sixteenth century, the house Ligier Richier, Gondrecourt hotel Renaissance style with its gargoyles representing a ram, a dog, a horse, an ox and a lion, or the Rouen Hotel built in the middle of the 17th century.
The town also has a planetarium, and nearby, it is possible to discover the Seven Rocks, picturesque cliffs made up of seven blocks of limestone more than twenty meters.
To discover also, the site of the Saillant with its vestiges of the First World war.
The market is held every Saturday morning. At the end of the year, the town organizes a Christmas market with entertainment. An intercommunal fair is proposed the first Sunday of September.
At the beginning of April, Saint-Mihiel organizes its famous Baroque festival with many concerts.
In April, place at the funfair of Saint-Mihiel.
Comic Festival, Les Bonnes Bulles take place each year in May.
In Sampigny, the Raymond Poincaré museum installed in the summer residence of the former President of the Republic presents objects from his daily life, from his mandate.
Close to Lake Madine (10 km), a natural sports and leisure area in the heart of the Lorraine Regional Natural Park.
