 Buildings lining Place Saint-Pierre. In the foreground, the cathedral forecourt, with its steps visible on the right. | |
  Shown within France | |
| Former name(s) | Place des Gracches |
|---|---|
| Type | Square |
| Length | 60 m (200 ft) |
| Width | 60 m |
| Area | 3,600 m2 |
| Location | Nantes, Pays de la Loire |
| Coordinates | 47°13′05″N1°33′05″W / 47.21806°N 1.55139°W |
| Construction | |
| Completion | Ancient history, 1867-1872 |
Place Saint-Pierre is a public square located in Nantes, France. It is situated to the east of the Nantes Cathedral.
The square, situated at the center of Nantes , is accessible via six streets: Rue de l'Évêché and Rue du Roi-Albert to the northeast, Rue Portail to the northwest, Rue du Général-Leclerc-de-Hauteclocque to the west, Rue de Verdun to the southwest, and Rue Mathelin-Rodier to the southeast.
The square functions as the parvise of the Nantes Cathedral, thereby inheriting the initial portion of the cathedral's name.
Place Saint-Pierre is located at the eastern entrance of the ancient city, within the walls of the Gallo-Roman castrum, which was constructed after the year 270. The first cathedral was erected on the site in the 4th century. [1]
For an extended period, the square section between the cathedral and Rue Saint-Laurent, located to the south, was utilized as a cemetery. This cemetery was only enclosed by a wall in 1592. [2] In 1617, the cemetery was relocated. [3]
On September 5, 1661, while visiting Nantes to attend the Estates of Brittany, King Louis XIV ordered the arrest of Nicolas Fouquet, his superintendent of finances. After a failed attempt in front of the Château des Ducs de Bretagne, Charles de Batz-Castelmore D'Artagnan, a musketeer serving the king, successfully apprehended Fouquet in the square in front of the cathedral.
Before the eighteenth century, Place Saint-Pierre was one of the few public squares in the city and the sole one of considerable size. Its establishment was closely associated with the cathedral. In contrast, other squares, such as Bouffay , Change , and Saint-Nicolas , were primarily utilitarian, serving economic functions. Place Saint-Pierre also functioned as a crossroads, at the intersection of the road to Paris and the Saint-Pierre Gate . [4]
In the early 18th century, the municipality was responsible for paving the square [5] (while residents were responsible for paving the streets), as well as maintaining a public well (the city had thirteen wells in 1748). [6] In the view of art historian Pierre Lelièvre , the square was not designed to accommodate a market, except on an occasional basis. For example, in 1740, some merchants, displaced from the overcrowded Bouffay market, were permitted to set up temporary stalls in Place Saint-Pierre. [7] However, Yves Durand notes that the square served as a gathering place for merchants of fruit and vegetables. [8] In 1756, the mayor ordered the removal of commercial establishments that had been established at the side exits of the cathedral. [9]
The initial proposal for the expansion of the square was put forth by Pierre Vigna de Vigny (1690–1772). His project involved the demolition of certain buildings on the north side of the square to create a sense of visual symmetry with the cathedral. At the time, the facades of the buildings on this side were aligned with the central entrance of the cathedral. The proposed enlargement would have shaped the square into a large rectangle, with a semicircular section facing the cathedral. Vigny de Vigny also proposed this type of square for the Chamber of Accounts and City Hall . However, the project was never executed. [10]
During the French Revolution, the square was renamed Place des Gracques . [11]
In 1860, Henri-Théodore Driollet also devised a plan to expand the square. Ultimately, the competition for the redesign of the esplanade was won by Eugène Demangeat , a Nantes-born architect based in Paris who had previously won the second Prix de Rome. The square was demolished in 1867 [12] and subsequently rebuilt between 1868 and 1872. [13] Construction of the cathedral, which had spanned 437 years, was completed in 1891.
The Nantes Cathedral, constructed between 1434 and 1891, is the dominant feature of the square. It has been designated a historic monument since 1862. [14] The cathedral's Gothic architectural style, tuffeau stone construction, and height of 63 meters contribute to its prominence. Additionally, the cathedral houses the tomb and effigies of Duke Francis II of Brittany and his wife, Marguerite de Foix.
At the cathedral's entrance, a four-step staircase, constructed during the square's leveling in 1867, accentuates its grandeur. [12]
The 1868 alignment formed a regular square, measuring 60 meters on each side, bordered by identical five-story facades in the Haussmannian style. These facades feature shops on the ground floor and balconies made of cast iron on the upper floors. [12]
The square served as the setting for the film L'Ironie du sort by Édouard Molinaro (1974). [15]
Nantes is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, 50 km (31 mi) from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 320,732 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabitants (2020). With Saint-Nazaire, a seaport on the Loire estuary, Nantes forms one of the main north-western French metropolitan agglomerations.
Châteaubriant is a town in western France, about 350 km (220 mi) southwest of Paris, and one of the three sous-préfectures of the Loire-Atlantique department. Châteaubriant is also situated in the historical and cultural region of Brittany, and it is the capital of the Pays de la Mée.
Saintes is a commune and historic town in western France, in the Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Saintes is the second-largest city in Charente-Maritime, with 25,518 inhabitants in 2021. The city's immediate surroundings form the second-most populous metropolitan area in the department, with 56,598 inhabitants. While a majority of the surrounding landscape consists of fertile, productive fields, a significant minority of the region remains forested, its natural state.
Bouguenais is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France near Nantes.
Nantes Cathedral, or the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul of Nantes, is a Roman Catholic Gothic cathedral located in Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France. Construction began in 1434, on the site of a Romanesque cathedral, and took 457 years to finish in 1891. It has been listed since 1862 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
Mouzeil is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire in western France.
Mathurin Crucy was a French architect and urban planner, who conceived a major Neo-Classical architectural programme for Nantes.
Tours station is a railway station serving the city of Tours, Indre-et-Loire department, western France. It is situated on the Paris–Bordeaux railway, the Tours–Saint-Nazaire railway, and the non-electrified Tours–Le Mans railway. The Gare de Tours is a terminus; most TGV trains only serve the nearby Gare de Saint-Pierre-des-Corps.
The Musée Dobrée is an archeology museum in Nantes, in the quartier Graslin in the immediate outskirts of the city centre and very close to the city's Natural History Museum. It was given to the city by Thomas Dobrée and now belongs to the Conseil général de la Loire-Atlantique. In January 2010, the Conseil général began a project to restructure and modernise the museum, which is planned for completion in 2023.
Amédée-René Ménard was a French academic sculptor and art teacher.
Tugal Caris, also spelled Carris or Cariste, was a 17th-century French ecclesiastical sculptor and ecclesiastical architect who worked in Nantes and Rennes. He was one of the creators of elaborate altarpieces in a new style invented by sculptors from Laval.
The Hôtel de la Marine, originally called Hôtel Massion, is a neo-classical and "neo-Louis-XV" style private mansion built in 1874, located in Nantes, France, at 2 Place Général-Mellinet between the boulevard Paul-Langevin and rue de Belleville, in the Dervallières neighborhood. The building was listed as a French Monument historique in 1988 and 2011.
The Departmental Council of Loire-Atlantique, called the 'General Council of Loire-Inférieure' between 1800 and 1957, then 'General Council of Loire-Atlantique' until 2015, is the deliberative assembly of the French department of Loire-Atlantique. Its headquarters are in Nantes.
Primaudière Priory is an ancient priory dating from the 13th and 18th centuries, located in the French communes of Armaillé in Maine-et-Loire and Juigné-des-Moutiers in Loire-Atlantique.
Rue Alsace-Lorraine is a pedestrian thoroughfare in the French commune of Saintes, in the Charente-Maritime department.
The cemeteries of Nantes have each developed a unique history, with some being more notable than others. Each cemetery has its share of remarkable inhabitants. Since 1979, at least fifteen cemeteries have been operational within the commune of Nantes. The cemeteries of Nantes include Bouteillerie, Chauvinière, Cimetière Parc, Miséricorde, Pont du Cens, Saint-Clair, Saint-Donatien, Saint-Jacques, Saint-Joseph-de-Porterie, Saint-Martin, Sainte-Anne, Toutes-Aides, and Vieux-Doulon.
The Basilica of St. Nicolas in Nantes is a Catholic basilica constructed in the neo-Gothic architectural style, situated in the heart of Nantes. It is one of two basilicas in the city, the other being the Basilica of Saint Donatien and Saint Rogatien.
The former Carmelite Convent at Nantes is a convent of the Carmelite Order established in 1318 in Nantes, France, which was then situated within the Duchy of Brittany. The convent was gradually destroyed beginning with the French Revolution.
The La Bouteillerie Cemetery is a burial site situated in Nantes, France, within the Malakoff-Saint-Donatien neighborhood. The cemetery has been in use since 1774.
The former Jacobins convent in Nantes, France, was constructed in the 13th century and underwent modifications until the 18th century. Only one building, known as "l'Hostellerie des Jacobins", remains from this period. It was situated in the city center, near the Château des Ducs de Bretagne.
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