Meurthe-et-Moselle. Twenty years ago today, Nancy inaugurated a new, fully pedestrianized Place Stanislas.

This inauguration was certainly not lacking in panache! Scheduled for May 19, 2005, during a summit of the Weimar Triangle, it brought together Jacques Chirac, Gehrard Schröder, and Aleksander Kwasniewski. No less!

Oddly enough, however, exactly 20 years later, the anniversary goes almost unnoticed.

Perhaps because the famous square had already been the center of attention during the 30th anniversary of its World Heritage listing.

Perhaps also because this success is due to the opponents of the current municipality.

Let's not mince our words, however: the pedestrianization of Place Stanislas has changed the face, if not of the world, at least that of Nancy!

When André Rossinot , the mayor at the time, celebrated the completion of a monumental project in 2005, he did not fail to praise the vision and boldness of his team. However, the mayor was not among the first to be convinced at the outset.

At the time, it was estimated that 14,000 vehicles were passing by the foot of Big Stan every day. And politicians were convinced: putting an end to the perpetual automobile revolution was guaranteed revolution! Whether the user was glued to his steering wheel or the business owner worried about his turnover, it was hard to know who would shout the loudest.

But at the end of the 20th century, the impact of pollution on historic walls as well as on lungs could no longer be ignored.

Environmental associations were making their voices heard, and their arguments were eventually heard even within the ranks of the centre-right municipal team.

The construction site therefore opened under the aegis of Pierre-Yves Caillaut: the chief architect of historic monuments.

The pedestrianization is, ultimately, only the icing on the enormous cake of this program initially designed to renovate the square on the occasion of its 250th anniversary.

The project, costing €8 million, included restoring the facades, completely revamping the lighting, re-gilding the Jean Lamour railings, and reinstalling wooden railings around the perimeter, as they were originally. At the time, their presence, despite being attested to by a painting known as "Pange" discovered in 2003, had sparked controversy. Today, this form of extending "public bench" is unanimously accepted.

Last but not least, the old 1958 paving stones had to be cleared. But rather than dumping them in some landfill, they were offered for sale, for the benefit of charities, at a price of €1 for each 2 kg paving stone. And it was a steal!

They were replaced with wider paving stones from Croatia. While beautiful, they were also notable for their reflective and painfully dazzling properties, slippery in the slightest downpour and susceptible to frost.

Moreover, 20 years later, sometimes victims of spectacular cracks, no doubt also due to ground movements, they are the subject of regular and costly replacement operations.

Other results are less unfortunate, to put it mildly... and even frankly positive, to "tell the truth".

Starting with the turnover of retailers, which we no longer hear complaining about at all.

As for Mapping, launched in 2007, it has since become a veritable summer institution, igniting both facades and imaginations. It boasts a cumulative audience of 7.5 million. Even if the format is struggling to keep up with the times, it's no surprise that it's now a popular event.

Above all, the positive impact this restored square now brings to the entire city, both nationally and internationally, has earned it growing tourist interest, further redoubled when the site was awarded the title of France's Favorite Monument in 2021.

A favorite monument, and pedestrianized!