Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the prefecture of the northeastern French department of

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following t ...

, which was annexed by France under King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

in 1766 and replaced by a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, with Nancy maintained as capital. Following its rise to prominence in the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

, it was nicknamed the "capital of Eastern France" in the late 19th century. The metropolitan area of Nancy had a population of 511,257 inhabitants at the 2018 census, making it the 16th-largest functional urban area in France and Lorraine's largest. The population of the city of Nancy proper is 104,885. The motto of the city is , —a reference to the thistle, which is a symbol of Lorraine. Place Stanislas, a large square built between 1752 and 1756 by architect Emmanuel Héré under the direction of Stanislaus I of Poland to link the medieval old town of Nancy and the new city built under Charles III, Duke of Lorraine in the 17th century, is now a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

, the first square in France to be given this distinction. The city also has many buildings listed as historical monuments and is one of the European centres of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Moder ...

thanks to the École de Nancy. Nancy is also a large

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

city; with the Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Brabois, the conurbation is home to one of the main health centres in Europe, renowned for its innovations in surgical robotics.

History

The earliest signs of human settlement in the area date to 800 BC. Early settlers were likely attracted by easily mined iron ore and a ford in the river Meurthe. Its name is first attested as ''Nanciaco'', possibly from a Gaulish personal name. A small fortified town named Nanciacum (''Nancy'') was built by Gérard, Duke of Lorraine around 1050. Nancy was burned in 1218 at the end of the

War of Succession of Champagne The War of the Succession of Champagne was a war from 1216 to 1222 between the nobles of the Champagne region of France, occurring within that region and also spilling over into neighboring duchies. The war lasted two years and ''de facto'' ende ...

, and conquered by Emperor Frederick II. It was rebuilt in stone over the next few centuries as it grew in importance as the capital of the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following t ...

. Duke Charles the Bold of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

, was defeated and killed in the

Battle of Nancy The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, against René II, Duke of Lorraine, and the Swiss Confederacy. Ren� ...

in 1477; René II, Duke of Lorraine became the ruler. File:RenéDeux.jpg, Engraving depicting the capture of Nancy through Duke

René II René (''born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name (Renée being the feminine ...

of Lorraine in 1477 File:Diebold Schilling, Battle of Nancy, 1477.jpg, 1477 Battle of Nancy Following the failure of both Emperor Joseph I and Emperor Charles VI to produce a son and heir, the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 left the throne to the latter's next child. This turned out to be a daughter, Maria Theresa of Austria. In 1736, Emperor Charles arranged her marriage to Duke

François François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

of Lorraine, who reluctantly agreed to exchange his ancestral lands for the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( it, Granducato di Toscana; la, Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In t ...

. The exiled Polish king Stanislaus I (''Stanisław Leszczyński'' in Polish), father-in-law of the French king

, was then given the vacant duchy of Lorraine. Under his nominal rule, Nancy experienced growth and a flowering of Baroque culture and architecture. Stanislaus oversaw the construction of Place Stanislaus, a major square and development connecting the old medieval with a newer part of the city. Upon Stanislaus' death in February 1766, Lorraine and Barrois became a regular government of the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

. A '' parlement'' for Lorraine and Barrois was established in Nancy in 1776. As unrest surfaced within the French Armed Forces during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, a full-scale mutiny, known as the Nancy affair, took place in Nancy in the latter part of summer 1790. A few units loyal to the government laid siege to the town and shot or imprisoned the mutineers. File:Le défilé - char de la Ville-Neuve. Cortège historique, Nancy 1909 P-FG-CP-01467.jpg, Parade in 1909 File:Maison des Magasins réunis 70 - NANCY - Place Saint-Jean.JPG, Nancy c. 1914 File:Bombardements de 1916 à Nancy, immeuble rue Palissot.jpg, Nancy in World War I In 1871, Nancy remained French when Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine. In 1909 it hosted the Exposition Internationale de l'Est de la France between May and November. Nancy was occupied by German forces beginning in 1940 and renamed Nanzig. During the Lorraine Campaign of World War II, Nancy was liberated from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

by the

US Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf W ...

in September 1944, at the

. In 1988, Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited Nancy. In 2005, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Polish President

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule, he was active in the Socialist Union of P ...

inaugurated the renovated Place Stanislas, which was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

Geography

Nancy is situated on the left bank of the river Meurthe, about 10 km upstream from its confluence with the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

. The Marne–Rhine Canal runs through the city, parallel to the Meurthe. Nancy is surrounded by hills that are about 150 m higher than the city center, which is situated at 200 m above mean sea level. The area of Nancy proper is relatively small: 15 km². Its built-up area is continuous with those of its adjacent suburbs. The neighboring communes of Nancy are: Jarville-la-Malgrange, Laxou, Malzéville,

Maxéville Maxéville () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a list of the 591 communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department ...

, Saint-Max, Tomblaine, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy and Villers-lès-Nancy. The oldest part of Nancy is the quarter ''Vieille Ville – Léopold'', which contains the 14th century ''Porte de la Craffe'', the Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, the Porte Désilles and the 19th century St-Epvre basilica. Adjacent to its south is the quarter ''Charles III – Centre Ville'', which is the 16th–18th century "new town". This quarter contains the famous Place Stanislas, the Nancy Cathedral, the Opéra national de Lorraine and the main railway station. The population of the city proper experienced a small decrease in population since 2007, placing it behind Metz as the second largest city in the Lorraine. However, the urban area of Metz experienced population decline from 1990 to 2010 while the urban area of Nancy grew over the same period, becoming the largest urban area in Lorraine and second largest in the "

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administ ...

" region of northeastern France. Within the Nancy metropolitan area in recent years, the city population declined slightly (2009–2014) at the roughly same time as a small increase in the population of its urban area (2006–2012).

Climate

Nancy has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

( Köppen: ''Cfb''), although a bit more extreme than most of the larger French cities. By the standards of France it is a "continental" climate with a certain degree of maritime (unrelated to the Köppen classification, since generally the whole country has a predominant mechanism favored by the West winds). The temperatures have a distinct variation of the temperate zone, both during the day and between seasons but without being very different. Winters are cold and dry in freezing climates. Summers are not always sunny, but warm enough. Mists are frequent in autumn and the winds are light and not too violent. Precipitation tends to be less abundant than in the west of the country. Sunshine hours are almost identical to Paris and the snowy days are the same as Strasbourg (most similar weather conditions). Although the lowest recorded temperature is officially −26.8 °C, some sources consider temperatures from −30 °C on 10 December 1879 before continuous data.

Demographics

Main sights

The old city center's heritage dates from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. The

cathedral of Nancy Nancy Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation et Saint-Sigisbert; ''Cathedral of Our Lady of the Annunciation and St. Sigisbert'') is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Nancy, Lorraine, France. It was erected in t ...

, the Triumphal Arch and the "Place de la Carriere" are a fine examples of 18th-century architecture. The Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine is the former princely residence of the rulers. The palace houses the

Musée Lorrain The Ducal Palace of Nancy (French: ''Palais ducal du Nancy'') is a former princely residence in Nancy, France, which was home to the Dukes of Lorraine. It houses the Musée Lorrain, one of Nancy's principal museums, dedicated to the art, hist ...

. A historic church is the

Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Nancy The Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours is a historic church located in Nancy, France. It used to be the resting place of the Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński, who was the last duke of Lorraine. A large stone relief of the coat of arms of the ...

, final resting place of the last duke Stanislas. Other notable churches are the Church of Saint-François-des-Cordeliers and the Basilica of Saint-Epvre ( :fr:Basilique Saint-Epvre de Nancy), which have historical ties to the ducal House of Lorraine. Nancy Cathedral BW 2015-07-18 16-22-28

The Place Stanislas named after king of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

and duke of Lorraine Stanislaus I, Place de la Carrière, and Place d'Alliance were added on the World Heritage Sites list by the

in 1983. The " École de Nancy", a group of artists and architects founded by the glassmaster and furniture maker Émile Gallé, worked in the

art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Moder ...

style at the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century. It was principally their work which made Nancy a center of art and architecture that rivaled Paris and helped give the city the nickname "Capitale de l'Est". The city still possesses many Art Nouveau buildings (mostly banks or private homes). Furniture, glassware, and other pieces of the decorative arts are conserved at the Musée de l'École de Nancy, which is housed in the 1909 villa of Eugène Corbin, a Nancy businessman and supporter of the Art Nouveau there. The Musée des Beaux-Arts has further collections of the art nouveau movement. A major

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, the ''

Jardin botanique du Montet The Jardin botanique du Montet (27 hectares), sometimes also called the Jardin botanique de Nancy, is a major botanical garden operated by the ''Conservatoire et Jardins Botaniques de Nancy''. It is located at 100, rue du Jardin Botanique, Villers-l ...

'', is located at Villers-lès-Nancy. Other gardens of interest include the city's earliest botanical garden, the ''

Jardin Dominique Alexandre Godron The Jardin Dominique Alexandre Godron is a historic botanical garden located at 3 rue Sainte-Catherine, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, France. It is open daily without charge. The garden was founded in 1758 by Stanisław Leszczyński, ...

'', and various other public gardens and places of interest including the Pépinière and Parc Sainte-Marie (public gardens). The town also has an aquarium. The surroundings of the train station are a busy commercial area.

Culture

The city is known for its World Heritage buildings at the Place Stanislas, which was opened April 2005 by Jacques Chirac after refurbishment. Musée école Nancy

At the turn of the 20th century, Nancy was a major center of the

with the École de Nancy. The city possesses a unique and interesting Musée de l'École de Nancy (School of Nancy Museum) with artworks by Émile Gallé, Louis Majorelle, Daum, Caravaggio, and others.Nancy also has other museums: * Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy (''Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy'') with painters from the 15th to 20th centuries, and a huge collection of Daum crystal displayed in part of the old fortifications of the city. * dedicated to the history of the

and arts ( Jacques Callot collection, Georges de La Tour). * . * Musée de l'École de Nancy offers a testimony of the diversity of creative techniques practiced by the artists of this school, with a fine display of furniture, objets d'art, glassware, stained-glass, leather, ceramics, textiles, etc. from the period. * The Iron History Museum The city is also the seat of the

Diocese of Nancy The Diocese of Nancy and Toul ( Latin: ''Dioecesis Nanceiensis et Tullensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Nancy et de Toul'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. After a considerable political st ...

and the home of the Opéra national de Lorraine. There is a network of libraries, the central of which is Bibliothèque municipale de Nancy. Nancy is known for its '' macarons'' and ''bergamotes'', candies flavored with bergamot essential oil.

Universities and colleges

Nancy has a large number of institutions of higher learning: * University of Lorraine which merges: ** Henri Poincaré University (''Université Henri Poincaré'', UHP, also known as Nancy 1) ** Nancy 2 University (''Université Nancy 2'') ***

European University Centre The European University Centre is a historical institute for European Studies part of Nancy 2 University. It was created in 1950 and it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2000. For its 60th anniversary in 2010, it also celebrated the 50th Anniv ...

** National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (''Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine'' or INPL) ***

École nationale supérieure des Mines de Nancy École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

***

École nationale supérieure des industries chimiques École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

(ENSIC) *** École nationale supérieure d'agronomie et des industries alimentaires (ENSAIA) ***

École européenne d'ingénieurs en génie des matériaux The École européenne d'ingénieurs en génie des matériaux (''EEIGM'') is a French engineering College created in 1991. The EEIGM trains 90 engineers in materials engineering every year. To do this, all students study the main families of mate ...

(EEIGM) *** École nationale supérieure d'électricité et de mécanique (ENSEM) *** (ENSG) ***

École nationale supérieure en génie des systèmes et de l'innovation École nationale supérieure en génie des systèmes et de l'innovation (ENSGSI) a French engineering College created in 1993. The school trains engineers with in organizational engineering, design engineering, innovation, management of complex p ...

(ENSGSI) *** Telecom Nancy (ex-ESIAL) *** École Polytechnique de l'Université de Lorraine (Polytech Nancy) * École des Beaux-Arts de Nancy * École nationale supérieure d'art de Nancy *

School of architecture of Nancy The school of architecture of Nancy (french: École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Nancy, also called EAN) is one of the twenty public schools of architecture in France, located at 2 rue Bastien-Lepage in Nancy. Created in 1969, the sch ...

(ENSA) * École pour l'informatique et les nouvelles technologies (EPITECH) *

ICN Graduate Business School ICN Business School is a Grande Ecole of management (selective higher education institutions, which provide high-level training) triple accredited AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. Associated with the University of Lorraine, the school is authorized to issu ...

(''Institut Commercial de Nancy'') * Sciences Po Paris ( French-German Undergraduate Campus) * Centre de Nancy-AgroParisTech * École Supérieure Robert de Sorbon * French National School of Forestry, est. 1824, in Nancy * Web@cademie

Sports

Nancy is home to two of the three professional sport clubs in Lorraine:

AS Nancy-Lorraine Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), commonly known as AS Nancy Lorraine, or simply Nancy, is a French association football club founded in 1967 in Nancy, Grand Est and located in Tomblaine, in the inner suburbs of Nancy. The club currentl ...

in football and SLUC Nancy in basketball. AS Nancy-Lorraine's Hall of Fame includes triple-Ballon d'Or and UEFA President Michel Platini, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, 1998 World Champion Aimé Jacquet, 2000 European Champion Roger Lemerre, 1998 African Ballon d'Or Mustapha Hadji, Irish legend Tony Cascarino, 1986 European Cup winner Sacha Zavarov and 1958 World Cup Semi-finalist Roger Piantoni. AS Nancy-Lorraine won the French cup 1978 with captain Michel Platini who scored the only goal of the final (Nancy 1–0 Nice). More recently

won the "Coupe de la Ligue" (French League Cup) in 2006 and reached fourth place in the French football league in 2007/2008. SLUC Nancy won the last Korac European Cup in 2002, reached the finals of French championship of basketball (Pro A) four consecutive times and finally won his first trophy in 2008. Also winner of "Semaine des As" in 2005 and champion of 2nd league (pro B) in 1994.

Prominent people from Nancy

* François-Émile André (1871–1933), architect * Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville (1827–1910), historian and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

Charles Baudiot Charles-Nicolas Baudiot (29 March 1773 – 26 September 1849) was a French classical cellist and composer. Biography Baudiot received lessons from Jean-Baptiste Janson the older, and succeeded his master as professor at the Conservatoire de P ...

(1773–1849), cellist and composer *

Najoua Belyzel Najoua Belyzel (born Najoua Mazouri December 15, 1981 in Nancy, France) is a French pop rock/electronic singer of Moroccan descent. Biography Najoua was born in Nancy, France and grew up in a large family with three sisters and two brothers ...

(born 1981), singer * André Bernanose (1912–2002), chemist, physicist and pharmacologist * Louis-Émile Bertin (1840–1924), naval engineer *

Jean Galli de Bibiena Jean Galli de Bibiena (French rendering of Galli da Bibbiena) was an 18th-century French-speaking writer (but of Italian descent), born in 1709 in Nancy and who may have died in 1779 in Italy. He was the son of Francesco Galli Bibiena, of the famou ...

(1709–1779), playwright * René-Prosper Blondlot (1849–1930),

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

, best remembered for his mistaken identification of N rays * Jacques Callot (c. 1592–1635), baroque graphics artist, draftsman and printmaker * Henri Cartan (1904–2008), mathematician * Charlotte Caubel (born 1972), magistrate, politician and minister *

Maxime Chanot Maxime Chanot (born 21 November 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender for New York City FC in Major League Soccer. Born in France, he represents Luxembourg at international level. He has mixed French-Luxembourgian des ...

(born 1990), footballer * Paul Colin (1892–1985), poster artist *

Marion Créhange Marion Créhange (born Marion Caen; 14 November 1937 – 28 March 2022) was a French computer scientist. She was one of the first persons in France to get a PhD in Computer Science in 1961. A pioneer of computer science at the University of Nanc ...

(1937–2022), computer scientist * Grand Duchess Christina of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

(1565–1637) *

Gérard Cuny Gérard Cuny (7 May 1925 – 26 December 1996) was a French gerontologist. He occupied senior positions in geriatric services in Nancy and the Lorraine region. He was a founding member of the French Society of Gerontology and was its president fr ...

(1925–1996), French gerontologist *

Matthieu Delpierre Matthieu Delpierre (born 26 April 1981 in Nancy, France) is a retired French footballer who played as a centre back. Delpierre's professional career started with Lille OSC, before a move to VfB Stuttgart in Germany where he eventually beca ...

(born 1981), footballer * Gérard Paul Deshayes (1795–1875), geologist and conchologist *

Auguste Digot Auguste Digot (28 August 1815, Nancy – 29 May 1864, idem, aged 48) was a 19th-century French historian whose work was dedicated to the history of Lorraine. Works A lawyer and member of the Académie de Stanislas, Digot wrote several articles ...

(1815–1864), historian of Lorraine *

Antoine Drouot General Antoine Drouot, Comte Drouot (11 January 1774 – 24 March 1847) was a French officer who fought in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Drouot is one of a select group who were present at both the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) an ...

(1774–1847), one of Napoleon's generals * Joseph Ducreux (1735–1802), portrait painter,

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those us ...

ist, miniaturist, and engraver *

Prosper Guerrier de Dumast Auguste-Prosper-François, baron Guerrier de Dumast (26 February 1796, Nancy – 26 January 1883, Nancy) was a figure of French Liberal Catholicism and a defender of the city of Nancy (lotharingism). A member of the Académie de Stanislas,. he w ...

(1796–1883), proponent of Lotharingism * Pascal Dusapin (born 1955), composer * Gisèle d'Estoc (1845-1894), writer, sculptor, feminist *

Lucien Febvre Lucien Paul Victor Febvre (, ; 22 July 1878 – 11 September 1956) was a French historian best known for the role he played in establishing the Annales School of history. He was the initial editor of the '' Encyclopédie française'' together wi ...

(1878–1956), historian * Adèle Ferrand (1817–1848), painter * Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1708–1765),

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

of Lorraine and later Holy Roman Emperor * Émile Gallé (1846–1904),

artist * Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896), author, critic, publisher, founder of the Académie Goncourt * Gillian Henrion (born 2003), racing driver * Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767–1855), painter * François Jacob (1920–2013),

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually speciali ...

Won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Medicine. * Yves Lambert (born 1936),

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

* Nicolas Liebault (1723–1795), collaborator of the '' Encyclopédie'' by Diderot and D'Alembert *

Hubert Lyautey Louis Hubert Gonzalve Lyautey (17 November 1854 – 27 July 1934) was a French Army general and colonial administrator. After serving in Indochina and Madagascar, he became the first French Resident-General in Morocco from 1912 to 1925. Early ...

(1854–1934),

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

* Louis Maimbourg (1610–1686), Jesuit and historian * Aimé Morot (1850–1913), painter * Charles Palissot de Montenoy (1730–1814), playwright * Michel Picard (born 1931), writer, winner of the 2007 Feuille d'or de la ville de Nancy *

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or ...

(b. 1955 in Jœuf), footballer * Henri Poincaré (1854–1912), mathematician,

theoretical scientist Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied researc ...

and philosopher of science * Éric Rohmer (1920–2010), film director *

Pierre Roussel (epigrapher) Pierre Roussel (23 February 1881 – 1 October 1945) was a 20th-century French epigrapher and historian, director of the French School at Athens from 1925 to 1935. Biography A student with Paul Perdrizet at the faculty for letters of Nancy, ...

(1881–1945), archaeologist and epigrapher * Henri Royer (1869–1938), painter * Jean François de Saint-Lambert (1716–1803), poet * Pierre Schaeffer (1910–1995), noted as the inventor of musique concrète * Charles Sellier, (1830–1882) painter * José Touré (born 1961), footballer * Arnaud Vincent (born 1974), motorcycle racer *

Élise Voïart Élise Voïart, (1786-1866) was a writer and translator from Nancy, France, specializing in historical works, fiction and children's books. She held literary salons at her home when she lived near Paris. Biography Élise was born 10 February 1 ...

(1786–1866), writer and translator * Lucien Weissenburger (1860–1929), architect

Transport

The main railway station is Gare de Nancy-Ville, with direct connections to Paris (high-speed rail line),

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Est ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

, Strasbourg and several regional destinations. The motorway A31 connects Nancy with Metz,

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

and Langres. Public transport within Nancy is provided by ''Service de Transport de l'Agglomération Nancéienne'' (STAN), operated by Veolia Transport, operating the ''Tram'' by STAN and around 20 conventional bus routes. The most heavily used route, the ''Tram'' T1, is a so-called 'tramway on tires', which is actually a guided busway based on Bombardier Transportation's Guided Light Transit (GLT) technology and using articulated

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

es. In addition to diesel buses, Nancy has been served by trolleybuses since 1982, but in 2000 the three-route trolleybus system was reconfigured into a single, longer route and with a surface guidance system added (GLT, or TVR in French). The guidance systems covers about two-thirds of the approximately 10-km route, and the trolleybuses are separated from other traffic over that portion of the route, speeding travel times. During its first two years, the new system suffered many incidents and malfunctions of the guidance system, but now works without significant problems.

Heraldry

The coat of arms of Nancy displays a thistle, originally considered to be a symbol of

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

, and adopted as a personal symbol by René of Anjou and later by his descendant René II, Duke of Lorraine. Contrary to the Scottish thistle, the one of Lorraine is always shown with its roots. During the wars against

, the thistle became an emblem for the people of Lorraine as a whole. It officially became the attribute of the city of Nancy in 1575 when Charles III, Duke of Lorraine granted the city with its own coat of arms. At first, the coat of arms of Nancy had a chief of Lorraine, which meant that the upper part showed the ducal arms, namely three alerions on a red bend. Later, the chief of Lorraine was replaced by a more complex one which gathers the former possessions of the Dukes of Lorraine. The upper row comprises from left to right the arms of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...

, the Kingdom of Naples, the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establish ...

and the

Kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community eu, a ...

, while the lower row comprises the

Duchy of Anjou The Duchy of Anjou (, ; ; la, Andegavia) was a French province straddling the lower Loire. Its capital was Angers, and its area was roughly co-extensive with the diocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered by Brittany to the west, Maine to the n ...

, the Duchy of Guelders, the Duchy of Jülich and the County of Bar. The inescutcheon is the coat of arms of Lorraine itself. The coat of arms displays the motto, which appeared in the end of the 16th century. It was initially "''Nul ne s'y frotte''" ("no one attacks it"), but it was changed to Latin "''Non inultus premor''" in 1616. The motto has a similar meaning to the Scottish one, "'' Nemo me impune lacessit''", usually translated as "No one attacks me with impunity", which also makes reference to the thistle. The coat of arms further displays the Legion of Honour, awarded to the city after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, and the War Crosses 14–18 and 39–45.

Notes

References

External links

City council website

Tourist office website

Nancy Convention bureau

Phonebook of Nancy
*
Jardin botanique du Montet (Botanical Garden)

Art Nouveau-related links

* ttp://www.nancy-tourisme.fr/nancy-tourism/discover/history-and-heritage/art-nouveau-and-art-deco/ Nancy tourism office page on the "School of Nancy" Museum
A walking tour of Nancy's Art Nouveau architecture
including photos {{Authority control Communes of Meurthe-et-Moselle Prefectures in France World Heritage Sites in France Burial sites of the House of Vaudémont Cities in France Duchy of Lorraine