Church of Saint Francis of the Cordeliers

It seems that I was doomed to just look on from the outside in my visit in Nancy. A lot of the major landmarks I have been to seem to be closed. I don’t really know what is going on but it was quite disappointing. The Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine was closed to visitors so I can only look on from the outside. Right next to the palace is a small church which seems to be under construction because of the presence of a fence nearby. I thought it was rather unremarkable to have a church here when there was already a full basilica not too far away from here. But then again, these are dukes we are at talking about and they usually want church to be near where they are.

True enough, the dukes of Lorraine were patrons of this church. In fact, not only do the dukes of Lorraine go here but other political figures would also come here, including Emperor Franz-Joseph I of Austria as well as Marie Antoinette of Austria. I guess it is not surprising that important figures would be visiting the church if they are already in the area. I would be curious why emperors would be coming to this place in the first place and not places like Paris for example. Perhaps it is due to the political divisions at that time, Lorraine would have been a more independent region compared to just being another part of modern day France. Then it would probably make sense to pay a visit to the political leaders of the place at that time.

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