Nantes is located in northwestern France in the département of Loire-Atlantique along the Loire River. Nantes is connected to the Atlantic by a ship canal to Saint Nazaire. Nantes is the sixth largest city in France with a population of 280,000 and a metropolitan population of 800,000. In 2004, Time Magazine voted Nantes the most livable city in Europe.
The ancient Namnètes tribe lived in modern day Nantes before the Roman conquest of Gaul around 50 BC. Gaul was unsuccessfully besieged by the Huns in 445 AD, but in the nineth century the area was captured by the Normans. Beginning in the tenth century Nantes held the dukes of Brittany. In 1499, Duchess Anne of Brittany married Louis XII and by 1532 Brittany was annexed by the kingdom of France. On April 13, 1598, Henry IV signed the Edict of Nantes that gave Protestants civil and religious freedoms. During the French Revolution Nantes was a site of mass drownings. Nantes was an American supply channel in WWI, but as part of occupied France during WWII, Nantes suffered heavy damage by Allied fighting.
Points of interst include the fifteenth century Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, a fifteenth century cathedral, a musée des beaux-arts, and the LU Tower.
City of Nantes (in French) | Nantes Métropole (in French)
Loire-Atlantique tourist map | Loire-Atlantique political map
A Tale of 4 Cities 