looking for advice and imput on westering europe seting
Skyscrapers are not much of a thing in Europe. Paris doesn't want to build anything that would detract from the impact of the Eiffel Tower, for example. Most of the old cities are far more interested in their historical buildings.
Skyscrapers originated in America, and have only really been taken up by third world countries that are trying to compete with America in a sort of 'structure-measuring contest'.
However, buildings don't need to be tall to contain a lot of metal. Most modern buildings are steel core structures, so you'll find plenty of metal in any modern city.
Regarding magical history, the most famous are the ancient Greek mythology, the British mythology, the Norse mythology, and the German mythology (which spawned most of our fairy-tales).
Other countries have their myths, of course, but they'll take a lot more digging.
Hope that helps.