Nantes

• Nantes Location
  Nants is located in the northwest corner of the region of Pays de la Loire [Western Loire], just to the south of Brittany.  It is situated in western France on the Loire River, some 35 miles [56 km] from the Atlantic [Bay of Biscay] where the Erdre River [from the north] and the Sèvre River [which originates in the Deux-Sèvres] mix with the Loire. 
  
  By road, Nantes is 66 miles [110 km] south of Rennes, 221 miles [368 km] west southwest of Paris, 118 miles [196 km] west of Tours and 578 miles [964 km] northwest of Marseille.
   

• Nantes City Information
  The city of Nantes is the capital of two French administrative areas: the département of Loire-Atlantique and the region of Pays de la Loire [Western Loire].  In 1999 there were some 270,000 inhabitants of the city and a total of 492,000 people living within the metropolitan area.  The autonomous port of Nantes-Donges-Saint-Nazaire is the fourth largest seaport in France. 
   

• Nantes History
  The city’s name is derived from the name of the Gallic tribe, known as the Namnètes, who had made the site of Nantes their capital long before the coming of the Romans around 50BC.  The Romans had made the site a commercial and administrative center.  In 834, the Normans pillaged the town and occupied it until 936. 

  Nantes was bitterly fought over, during the Middle Ages, by the counts of Rennes and the counts of Nantes.  In the 10^th-century, the duke of Brittany took the town.  In 1532, along with Brittany, it passed to the French crown.  In 1560, king François II of France, granted the town a communal constitution.  From 1562 to 1598, during the Wars of Religion, the town was a member of the Catholic League.  In 1598, the people of Nantes finally welcomed the French king, Henry IV.  That same year, he signed the Edict of Nantes, granting religious and civil liberties to the Protestants. 

  During the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, in 1793, the revolutionary Committee of Public Safety’s ruthless envoy Jean-Baptiste Carrier, executed large numbers of its inhabitants.  To enhance efficiency, he replaced executions by guillotining [which he considered too slow] by mass drowning. 

  Nantes is considered to be one of the French towns most changed during the 20^th –century.  In 1920, a far-reaching urban renewal plan was adopted that greatly modified the city.  During World War II, the city was occupied by the Germans and was partly destroyed during the war.  Following the war, the city was widely replanned and rebuilt.  Roads were built on river fill, the railroad [which used to cut across town] is now underground and the port was extended and rebuilt.   

  Under the French Government’s national urban plan, Nantes has been designated as a major economic development center.  Many large projects are either underway or have been finished.  These include the extension of air [Nantes-Atlantique Airport], rail and road communications, the building of vast industrial zones and the modification of the port to accommodate larger sea-going vessels.
   

• Nantes Points of Interest
  The 15^th-century Gothic cathedral of Saint-Pierre was constructed over a 500 year period, into the 20^th-century.  There are three impressive, finely sculptured doorways set in its façade between two high towers.  Although the structure had been bombed, during WWII, it had been virtually rebuilt when, in 1972, a fire largely destroyed the roof, leaving King François II’s Renaissance tomb undisturbed. 

  François II’s 10^th-century medieval chateau, which the king had rebuilt in 1466, looks like a fortification from the outside.  But inside, behind the crenellated towers, is a typical Renaissance inner courtyard and palace. 

  The Musée des Beaux-Arts is a noted art museum that is worth the visit to view one of the most varied and important collection of paintings in all of France. 
   

• Nantes Gastronomy
   

• Nantes Economy
  Nantes’ shipbuilding yards have long been a key pin in the area’s economic development.  During the 1970’s, the city’s chemical, aerospace equipment, clothing and mechanical industries expanded rapidly.  Processed food, including baked goods and fruit preserves, are also produced.  
   

• University of Nantes
  The University of Nantes was originally founded in 1460, but was abolished during the French Revolution.  It was reestablished in 1961.  In 1970, under the 1968 law reforming French education, the autonomous Université de Nantes was founded replacing the former university that was founded in 1961.  The university offers, among other fields, law, economics, business administration, medicine, the sciences, pharmacy and liberal arts.  Two-year courses are offered at the Institute of Technology.