Nantes

NANTES, a city of western France, capital of the department of Loire-Inferieure, on the Loire, 3 5 m. above its mouth, at the junction of the Orleans, Ouest-etat and State railways, 55 m. W.S.W. of Angers by rail. In population (1931, 169,164), Nantes is the first city of Brittany. The Loire here divides into several branches forming. islands over portions of which the city has spread.

History.—Before the Roman occupation Nantes was the chief town of the Namnetes and consisted of Condovicnum, lying on the hills away from the river, and of Portus Namnetum, on the river. Under the Romans it became a great commercial and ad ministrative centre, though its two parts did not coalesce till the 3rd or 4th century. In the middle of the 3rd century Christianity was introduced by St. Clair. Clotaire I. got possession of the city in 56o, and placed it under the government of St. Felix the bishop, who caused the Loire to flow under the walls of the castle. After being several times subdued by Charlemagne, Brittany revolted under his successors, and Nominoe, proclaimed king in 842, razed the fortifications of Nantes because it had sided with Charles the Bald. The Normans held the town from 843 to 936. About this time began the rivalry between Nantes and Rennes, whose counts disputed the sovereignty of Brittany. Pierre de Dreux, declared duke of Brittany by Philip Augustus, made Nantes his capital, surrounded it with fortifications and defended it against John of England. During the Breton wars of succession Nantes took part first with Jean de Montfort, but afterwards with Charles of Blois, and did not open its gates to Montfort till his success was assured and his English allies had retired. In 156o Francis II. granted Nantes a communal constitution. Averse to Protestantism, it joined the League along with the duke of Mercoeur, governor of Brittany, who helped to raise the country into an independent duchy; and it was not till 1598 that it opened its gates to Henry IV., who here signed on May 2 of that year the famous Edict of Nantes which until its revocation by Louis XIV. in 1685 was the charter of Huguenot liberties in France. The city was in 1793 the scene of the noyades of J. B. Carrier, envoy of the Committee of Public Safety.

The

Port.—The maritime port of Nantes is reached by way of the Loire and the ship canal between the island of Carnet and La Martiniere (91 rn.). Vessels drawing as much as 20 ft. 8 in., and at spring tides, 22 ft., can reach the port, which extends over a length of about 12 m. The outer port stretches 4 m. to Chante nay. The principal quays extend along the right bank of the branch which flows past the town, and on the western shore of the island of Gloriette. Their total length used for trading purposes is 5 m., and warehouses cover an area of 17 ac. A slipway facili

tates the repairing of ships. The river port occupies the St. Felix and Madeleine branches, and has quays extending for half a mile. Finally, on the Erdre is a third port for inland naviga tion. The quays are bounded by railway lines along the right bank of the river, which the railway to St. Nazaire follows. The older quarter of Nantes is situated to the east of the Erdre.

Buildings.

The cathedral, built above a 12th century crypt, was unfinished till the 19th century. There are two interesting monuments in the transept; Michel Colomb's tomb of Francis II., duke of Brittany, and his second wife Marguerite de Foix (1507), and that of Gen. Juchault de Lamoriciere, a native of Nantes, by Paul Dubois (1879). Between the cathedral and the Loire stands the castle of Nantes, founded in the 9th or loth century. Rebuilt by Francis II. and the duchess Anne, it is flanked by huge towers and by a bastion erected by Philip Em manuel duke of Mercoeur in the time of the League. A fine Gothic façade looks into the courtyard. From being the residence of the dukes of Brittany, the castle became a state prison and is now occupied as the artillery headquarters. The chapel in which the marriage of Louis XII. with Anne of Brittany was celebrated was destroyed in 1800. Nantes has an archaeological collection in the Dobree museum, and in the museum of fine arts a splendid collection of paintings, modern French masters being well repre sented. It is the seat of a prefect, of a bishopric under the arch bishop of Tours and a court of assizes, and headquarters of the XI. army corps; it has tribunals of first instance and of com merce, a board of trade-arbitrators and a chamber of commerce. It has many educational institutions.

Industries.—Among the more important industries of Nantes are sugar-refining, rice-husking, the manufacture of oil, soap, flour pastes and biscuits, chocolate and the preparation of tinned pro visions (sardines, vegetables, etc.) ; the manufacture of tin boxes, tiles, chemical manures, acid, leather, paper, rope, boots and shoes, brushes, porcelain and glass ; shipbuilding, metal founding and the construction of engineering material; and wool and cotton-spin ning and the manufacture of cotton and other fabrics, rubber goods, hosiery and knitted goods. Coal and petroleum, sugar, coffee, cotton-seed, copra, hemp, grain, phosphates and pyrites, timber and pulp-wood are imported. The principal exports are machinery, pit-props, iron ore, slate, hoops and provisions. The merchandise handled at the port of Nantes has slightly increased since 1913 when the amount of goods handled at the port was 1,964,00o tons (metric). In 1924 it was 2,154,00o and in 2,086,000 metric tons.