Nancy is the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

of the northeastern French department of

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

. It was the capital of the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the 10th century until 1766 when it was annexed by the kingdom of France. It gave its name to the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France ...

, which was annexed by France under King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), 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 maturity (then defi ...

in 1766 and replaced by a

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

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

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

, it was nicknamed the "capital of Eastern France" in the late 19th century. The metropolitan area of Nancy had a population of 508,793 inhabitants as of 2021, making it the 16th-largest functional urban area in France and

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

's largest. The population of the city of Nancy proper is 104,387 (2022). The motto of the city is —a reference to the thistle, which is a symbol of

Place Stanislas The Place Stanislas is a large Pedestrian zone, pedestrianised Town Square, square in the France, French city of Nancy, France, Nancy, in the Lorraine historic region. Built between 1752 and 1756 on the orders of Stanislaus I, former King of Polan ...

, 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 (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, 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 ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

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

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

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, 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

. Duke Charles the Bold of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') 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. ...

, was defeated and killed in the Battle of Nancy in 1477;

René II, Duke of Lorraine René II (2 May 1451 – 10 December 1508) was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria ...

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

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 language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...

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

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

. 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. On the south side of the Place Stanislaus is the Hôtel de Ville, which was completed in 1755. Upon Stanislaus' death in February 1766, Lorraine and Barrois became a regular government of the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

. A ''

parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...

'' for Lorraine and Barrois was established in Nancy in 1776. As unrest surfaced within the French Armed Forces during the French Revolution, 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 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, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

by the US Third Army in September 1944, at the Battle of Nancy. In 1988, Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

visited Nancy. In 2005, French President

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

, German Chancellor

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

and Polish President

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served the maximum two terms as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. His tenure as President was marked by modernization of Poland, rapid economi ...

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 ( , ; ; ) 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 joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

. 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 Jarville-la-Malgrange () is a Communes of France, commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departments of France, department in north-eastern France. The Château de la Malgrange was a ducal residence of the House of Lorraine here. Population See a ...

, Laxou, Malzéville, Maxéville, Saint-Max, Tomblaine,

Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy (, literally ''Vandœuvre Lès, near Nancy, France, Nancy'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departments of France, department in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Vandopériens'' ...

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

, 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 (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

" 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 or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''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 In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ra ...

, 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 Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

(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 centre’s heritage dates from the Middle Ages to the 18th century. The cathedral of Nancy, the Triumphal Arch and the "Place de la Carrière" 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. A historic church is the Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Nancy, 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, which have historical ties to the ducal House of Lorraine. Nancy Cathedral BW 2015-07-18 16-22-28

The

named after king of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and duke of Lorraine Stanislaus I, Place de la Carrière, and Place d'Alliance were added on the

World Heritage Sites World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

list by the

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

Émile Gallé Émile Gallé (; 4 May 1846 in Nancy, France, Nancy – 23 September 1904 in Nancy) was a French artist and designer who worked in glass, and is considered to be one of the major innovators in the French Art Nouveau movement. He was noted fo ...

, worked in the

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 upTypical drinkware. This list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware), tableware used to set a table for eating a meal and generally glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory ...

, 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 Eugène Corbin (1800–1874) was a French procureur général (prosecutor-general) and politician. During the French Second Republic (1848–1851) he helped suppress opposition to the government headed by Napoleon III, Louis Napoleon. He was appo ...

, 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. is ...

, the '' Jardin botanique du Montet'', is located at Villers-lès-Nancy. Other gardens of interest include the city's earliest botanical garden, the '' Jardin Dominique Alexandre Godron'', 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

, which was opened April 2005 by Jacques Chirac after refurbishment.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

, Louis Majorelle, Daum,

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

, 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 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 A macaron ( , ) or French macaroon ( ) is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond meal, and often food colouring. Since the 19th century, a typical Parisian-style macaron has been a sand ...

'' and ''bergamotes'', candies flavored with

bergamot essential oil Bergamot essential oil is a cold-pressed essential oil produced by cells inside the rind of a bergamot orange fruit. It is a common flavouring and top note in perfumes. The scent of bergamot essential oil is similar to a sweet light orange pe ...

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 ** National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (''Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine'' or INPL) *** École nationale supérieure des Mines de Nancy *** École nationale supérieure des industries chimiques (ENSIC) *** École nationale supérieure d'agronomie et des industries alimentaires (ENSAIA) *** École européenne d'ingénieurs en génie des matériaux (EEIGM) *** École nationale supérieure d'électricité et de mécanique (ENSEM) *** (ENSG) *** École nationale supérieure en génie des systèmes et de l'innovation (ENSGSI) *** Telecom Nancy (ex-ESIAL) ***

École Polytechnique de l'Université de Lorraine The École polytechnique de l'université de Lorraine (), or Polytech Nancy () is a French Grandes écoles, grande école located in Nancy, France, Nancy. It was created in 1960 under the name of ISIN, was renamed Ecole Supérieure des Sciences et ...

(Polytech Nancy) * École des Beaux-Arts de Nancy * École nationale supérieure d'art de Nancy * School of architecture of Nancy (ENSA) * École pour l'informatique et les nouvelles technologies (EPITECH) * ICN Graduate Business School (''Institut Commercial de Nancy'') *

Sciences Po Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

( 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 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 AS Nancy-Lorraine 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

* Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (1700–1759), a lorrain sculptor. * 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 strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

. * Charles Baudiot (1773–1849), cellist and composer * Najoua Belyzel (born 1981), singer * André Bernanose (1912–2002), chemist, physicist and pharmacologist * Louis-Émile Bertin (1840–1924), naval engineer * Jean Galli de Bibiena (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 cau ...

, best remembered for his mistaken identification of N rays * Stanislas de Boufflers (1738–1815), statesman and writer. * Jacques Callot (ca.1592–1635),

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

graphics artist, draftsman and printmaker. * Henri Cartan (1904–2008), mathematician * Charlotte Caubel (born 1972), magistrate, politician and minister * Maxime Chanot (born 1990), footballer * Paul Colin (1892–1985), poster artist * Marion Créhange (1937–2022), computer scientist * Grand Duchess Christina of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

(1565–1637) *

Lucien Cuénot Lucien Claude Marie Julien Cuénot (; 21 October 1866 – 7 January 1951) was a French biologist. In the first half of the 20th century, Mendelism was not a popular subject among French biologists. Cuénot defied popular opinion and shirked the � ...

(1866–1951), geneticist * Gérard Cuny (1925–1996), French gerontologist * Dominique Delestre (born 1955), racing driver * Matthieu Delpierre (born 1981),

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

er * Gérard Paul Deshayes (1795–1875), geologist and conchologist. * Auguste Digot (1815–1864), historian of Lorraine * Antoine Drouot (1774–1847), one of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's generals * Joseph Ducreux (1735–1802), portrait painter, pastelist, miniaturist, and engraver * Prosper Guerrier de Dumast (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 wit ...

(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 above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

of Lorraine and later

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

(1846–1904),

artist * Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896), author, critic, publisher, founder of the Académie Goncourt. * Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard Grandville (1803-1847), illustrator and caricaturist. * Gillian Henrion (born 2003), racing driver * François-Benoît Hoffman (1760–1828), playwright and critic. * Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767–1855), painter. *

François Jacob François Jacob (; 17 June 1920 – 19 April 2013) was a French biologist who, together with Jacques Monod, originated the idea that control of enzyme levels in all cells occurs through regulation of transcription. He shared the 1965 Nobel ...

(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 (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

who won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Medicine. * Yves Lambert (1936–2021),

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 , better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...

'' by

Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during t ...

and

D'Alembert Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert ( ; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanics, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''E ...

* Hubert Lyautey (1854–1934),

Marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...

* Louis Maimbourg (1610–1686),

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and historian. * François René Mallarmé (1755–1835), statesman of the French Revolution. * 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 (b. 1955 in Jœuf), footballer *

Henri Poincaré Jules Henri Poincaré (, ; ; 29 April 185417 July 1912) was a French mathematician, Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosophy of science, philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathemati ...

(1854–1912), mathematician, theoretical scientist and

philosopher of science Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

* Marie-Agnès Poussier-Winsback (born 1967), French politician * Mlle Raucourt (1756–1815) a French actress, real name ''Françoise Marie Antoinette Saucerotte''. *

Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. Rohmer was the last of the Post-war, p ...

(1920–2010), film director * Pierre Roussel (1881–1945), archaeologist and epigrapher * Henri Royer (1869–1938), painter * Jean François de Saint-Lambert (1716–1803), poet, philosopher and military officer. * Pierre Schaeffer (1910–1995), noted as the inventor of

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...

* Jean-Louis Schlesser (born 1948), racing driver * Charles Sellier (1830–1882), painter * José Touré (born 1961), footballer * Arnaud Vincent (born 1974), motorcycle racer * Élise Voïart (1786–1866), writer and translator * Lucien Weissenburger (1860–1929), architect * Virginie Despentes (1969), writer and filmmaker.

Economy

Business

* Bellieni, a nineteenth and twentieth century camera maker

Transport

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

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

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

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

and Langres. A nearby regional airport Metz–Nancy–Lorraine_Airport in Lorraine provides scheduled air service to several cities in other countries near France. Public transport within Nancy is provided by ''Service de Transport de l'Agglomération Nancéienne'' (STAN), operated since 2019 by Keolis and including around 20 conventional bus routes and one

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 troll ...

route. The Nancy trolleybus system has been in operation since 1982, originally with six routes. From 2001 until early 2023, the one remaining route was known as the ''Tram'' by STAN, because it used

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...

's Guided Light Transit (GLT) technology. The system was replaced by conventional unguided trolleybuses, entering service on 5 April 2025.

Heraldry

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

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and adopted as a personal symbol by René of Anjou and later by his descendant

. 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 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

, the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

and the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

, while the lower row comprises the

Duchy of Anjou The Duchy of Anjou (; , ; ) 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 north, Touraine ...

, the Duchy of Guelders, the Duchy of Jülich and the

County of Bar A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

. 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 The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, awarded to the city after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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

Notes

References

External links

City council website

Tourist office website
(archived 2 July 2013)
Nancy Convention bureau

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

Art Nouveau-related links

(archived 18 August 2006) * 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 (archived 18 August 2006) {{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