Discover Nantes

Nantes is located in the northwest of France, and it is the capital of the Region Pays de la Loire. This one is famous for its castles, and includes other important cities like Le Mans and Angers.

The city is crossed by several rivers, the most important of which is the Loire, and even by many channels, so it is often called the Venice of the West.

The city, which boasts among its illustrious citizens the writer Jules Verne (to whom a museum is dedicated), has a beautiful historical centre, where there are many of the most important tourist attractions of Nantes. One of them is the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany, built between the thirteenth and the sixteenth century, which is the symbol of Nantes: the city in fact once belonged to the independent Country of Brittany, joined to France in 1532. The castle is historically important not only as a symbol of the independence of Brittany, but also because in it was signed in 1598 the Edict of Nantes, with whom the religious minority of the Huguenots was allowed to profess its faith . Inside the castle there are some historical buildings such as the Vieux Donjon, the Golden Crown Tower and the Ducal Palace, within which is the Nantes History Museum, one of the most famous of France.

In Nantes you have also to visit the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, built in 1434, which holds the tomb of the Duke of Brittany Francis II, the Church of Notre Dame and the Jardin de Plantes (the botanical garden of the city) . If you love shopping, you have to go to Passage Pommeraye, a neoclassical commercial gallery full of trendy shops, where sometimes you can find out some special offers.