Editing Nantes (section)

==Architecture==
[[File:Château des Ducs de Bretagne à Nantes.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo of the castle gate|Main gate of the [[Château des ducs de Bretagne|Castle of the Dukes of Brittany]]]]
Nantes's cityscape is primarily recent, with more buildings built during the 20th century than in any other era.{{sfn|Dictionnaire de Nantes|2013|p=44}} The city has 127 buildings listed as ''[[Monument historique|monuments historiques]]'', the 19th-ranked French city.{{sfn|Monuments historiques à}} Most of the old buildings were made of [[tuffeau stone]] (a light, easily sculpted [[sandstone]] typical of the [[Loire Valley]]) and cheaper [[schist]]. Because of its sturdiness, [[granite]] was often used for foundations. Old buildings on the former Feydeau Island and the neighbouring embankments often lean because they were built on damp soil.{{sfn|La ville rivulaire}}

Nantes has a few structures dating to [[Ancient history|antiquity]] and the [[early Middle Ages]]. Remnants of the third-century Roman city wall exist in the old town.{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=651}} The Saint-Étienne chapel, in the Saint-Donatien [[Cemeteries of Nantes|cemetery]] outside the city centre, dates to 510 and was originally part of a Roman [[necropolis]].{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=652}} The Roman city walls were largely replaced during the 13th and 15th centuries. Although many of the walls were destroyed in the 18th century, some segments (such as [[Saint-Pierre gate, Nantes|Porte Saint-Pierre]], built in 1478) survived.{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=682}}

[[File:Nantes - Beffroi Ste Croix 01.jpg|thumb|alt=Ornate church belfry against a blue sky|[[Belfry (architecture)|Belfry]] of Sainte-Croix Church]]
Several 15th- and 16th-century [[Half-timbering|half-timbered]] houses still stand in Le Bouffay, an ancient area corresponding to Nantes's medieval core{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=664}} which is bordered by [[Nantes Cathedral]] and the [[Château des ducs de Bretagne|Castle of the Dukes of Brittany]]. The large, [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] cathedral replaced an earlier [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] church. Its construction took 457 years, from 1434 to 1891. The cathedral's tomb of [[Francis II, Duke of Brittany]] and his wife is an example of French [[Renaissance sculpture]].{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=669}} The Psallette, built next to the cathedral about 1500, is a late-Gothic mansion.{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=682}} The Gothic castle is one of Nantes's chief landmarks. Begun in 1207, many of its current buildings date to the 15th century. Although the castle had a military role, it was also a residence for the ducal [[Court (royal)|court]]. Granite towers on the outside hide delicate tuffeau-stone ornaments on its inner facades, designed in [[Flamboyant]] style with [[Renaissance architecture|Italianate influence]].{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=656}} The [[Counter-Reformation]] inspired two [[baroque]] churches: the 1655 Oratory Chapel and Sainte-Croix Church, rebuilt in 1670. A municipal belfry clock (originally on a tower of Bouffay Castle, a prison demolished after the [[French Revolution]]) was added to the church in 1860.{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=693}}

[[File:Nantes - Colonne Louis-XVI 04.jpg|thumb|alt=Large column with a statue of Louis XVI on top|Place Foch, with its [[Louis XVI]] column]]
After the [[Renaissance]], Nantes developed west of its medieval core along new embankments. Trade-derived wealth permitted the construction of many public monuments during the 18th century, most designed by the [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] architects Jean-Baptiste Ceineray and [[Mathurin Crucy]]. They include the Chamber of Accounts of Brittany (now the ''[[préfecture]]'', 1763–1783); the [[Théâtre Graslin|Graslin Theatre]] (1788); Place Foch, with its column and statue of [[Louis XVI]] (1790), and the [[Palais de la Bourse (Nantes)|stock exchange]] (1790–1815). Place Royale was completed in 1790, and the large fountain added in 1865. Its statues represent the city of Nantes, the Loire and its main tributaries. The city's 18th-century heritage is also reflected in the ''[[hôtel particulier|hôtels particuliers]]'' and other private buildings for the wealthy, such as the Cours Cambronne (inspired by [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] [[terraced house|terraces]]).{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=714}} Although many of the 18th-century buildings have a neoclassical design, they are adorned with sculpted [[rococo]] faces and balconies. This architecture has been called "Nantais [[baroque]]".{{sfn|Gilles Bienvenu|Françoise Lelièvre|1992|p=41}}

[[File:Passage Pommeraye 10.jpg|thumb|alt=Ornate, two-storey shopping mall|The [[Passage Pommeraye]], a [[Arcade (architecture)#Shopping arcades|shopping arcade]]]]
Most of Nantes's churches were rebuilt during the 19th century, a period of population growth and religious revival after the French Revolution. Most were rebuilt in [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival style]], including the city's two basilicas: [[Basilica of St. Nicolas, Nantes|Saint-Nicolas]] and Saint-Donatien. The first, built between 1844 and 1869, was one of France's first Gothic Revival projects. The latter was built between 1881 and 1901, after the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (which triggered another Catholic revival in France). Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port, near the Loire, is an example of 19th-century neoclassicism. Built in 1852, its dome was inspired by that of [[Les Invalides]] in [[Paris]].{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=715}} The [[Passage Pommeraye]], built in 1840–1843, is a multi-storey shopping arcade typical of the mid-19th century.{{sfn|Le patrimoine des|1999|p=717}}

Industrial architecture includes several factories converted into leisure and business space, primarily on the [[Ile de Nantes|Isle of Nantes]]. The former [[Lefèvre-Utile]] factory is known for its Tour Lu, a publicity tower built in 1909. Two cranes in the former harbour, dating to the 1950s and 1960s, have also become landmarks. Recent architecture is dominated by postwar concrete reconstructions, modernist buildings and examples of contemporary architecture such as the courts of justice, designed by [[Jean Nouvel]] in 2000.{{sfn|Laissez-Vous conter Nantes}}{{sfn|Dictionnaire de Nantes|2013|pp=48–49}}