The New Student's Reference Work/Nantes

Nantes (nănts, French nänt), the ninth largest city of France and capital of the department of Loire-Inférieure, lies on the right bank of the Loire, 35 miles from its mouth. Demolished between 1865 and 1870, Nantes has grown by nature and by art to be one of the handsomest cities in France. Its unfinished cathedral (1434–1852) contains the celebrated monument to the duke and duchess of Brittany. Among its noteworthy buildings are the ducal castle, the occasional residence of Charles VIII and the place where, on April 13, 1598, Henry IV signed the famous Edict of Nantes; the Church of St. Nicholas, the palace of justice, the theater, postoffice, museum and library of 50,000 volumes. Nantes, the former capital of Brittany, is the scene of the marriage of Anne of Brittany to Louis XI (1499), the embarkation of the Young Pretender (1745) and the arrest of the Duchess de Berri (1832). Population 170,535.