Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France on the Loire River, historically the capital of Brittany and now the capital of the Pays de la Loire region.

Namnetes: The Celtic people who lived around the lower Loire before and during Roman rule. Their name survives in Nantes, whose early history began in Namnetes territory.
Château des ducs de Bretagne: A castle in Nantes that served as a residence of the dukes of Brittany and now houses a history museum. Its fortifications and exhibits trace Nantes’s ties to Breton rule.
Anne of Brittany: Duchess of Brittany and queen of France who sought to preserve her duchy’s autonomy. Her rule linked Nantes to Brittany’s last period of independence.
Rennes: The capital of Brittany and a major city in northwestern France. Rennes became Brittany’s regional capital after Nantes was assigned to Pays de la Loire.
Roman Gaul: The provinces and territories of Gaul incorporated into the Roman Empire. Roman rule established the urban settlement that developed into Nantes.
Nantes Cathedral: A Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul in Nantes. Its construction reflects the city’s religious and architectural history.
Jules Verne: A French novelist whose works include Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas and Around the World in Eighty Days. Verne was born in Nantes, where the port helped shape his maritime imagination.
Pays de la Loire: An administrative region of western France whose capital is Nantes. Nantes belongs to this modern region rather than administrative Brittany.
Loire: The longest river in France, flowing westward to the Atlantic Ocean. The Loire connected Nantes to inland trade and Atlantic shipping.
Île de Nantes: An island district in the Loire undergoing extensive urban redevelopment. Its former shipyards have become a defining site of Nantes’s postindustrial transformation.

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