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Ancenis-Saint-Géréon (Municipality, Loire-Atlantique, France)

Last modified: 2021-12-21 by ivan sache
Keywords: ancenis-saint-géréon |
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Presentation of Ancenis-Saint-Géréon

The municipality of Ancenis-Saint-Géréon (11,012 inhabitants in 2018; 2,758 ha ha) was established on 1 January 2019 as the merger of the former municipalities of Ancenis and Saint-Géréon.

Ancenis played a great historical role as a key location on the road to Nantes, the historical capital of Brittany. The town was nicknamed "The Key of Brittany" or "The Gate of Brittany".
The present-day's town was founded in 984 by Guérech, son of Alan Barbetorte, Duke of Brittany, or by his wife Aremberge. A Gallo-Roman settlement existed Saint-Géréon, on a height of the slopes of the Loire.
The foundation of Ancenis aimed at defending the new border created by the victory of Alan Barbetorte over the Normans against the claims of the Counts of Anjou who, from 987, besieged the town.

The strategic position of the castle resulted in several sieges laid between the 12th and 16th centuries, by kings of England Henry II and John, kings of France Louis IX, Louis XI and Francis II, Duke Charles of Brittany and by Louis de la Trémoille on behalf of Charles VIII, who ordered the demolition of the castle; in 1488, the king forbid la Trémoille and his lieutenants to allow their workers any holiday until the demolition was complete.
In 1468, the Treaty of Ancenis committed Francis II of Brittany to break alliances with Charles the Bold and King Edward IV of England.

From the 17th century, the military role of the castle dwindled. It was dismantled by order of Richelieu in 1626. Sections of curtain walls and towers were disfigured or removed. The moats were filled with the construction of wharves in 1840 and the establishment of an Ursuline boarding school in 1850 continued the damage.
A first bridge was built over the Loire in Ancenis from 1838 to 1839. In January 1953, thz new Anjou-Bretagne bridge was inaugurated. It was the beginning of the project of the construction of the new port, which faces the castle.

Olivier Touzeau, 9 May 2021


Ancenis

[Flag]

Flag of Ancenis - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 9 May 2021

The flag of Ancenis (photo) was white with the municipal logo. The flower comes from the municipal arms "Gules, three cinquefoils ermine".

Olivier Touzeau, 9 May 2021