Ancenis

Ancenis (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃s.ni]; Breton: Ankiniz) is a former commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.^[2] On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Ancenis-Saint-Géréon.^[3] It is a former sub-prefecture of the department, and was the seat of the former arrondissement of Ancenis.

Ancenis
Part of Ancenis-Saint-Géréon
From top to bottom, left to right: The Château d'Ancenis, the flags above the town hall, the town hall, the Ancenis Bridge, St. Peter's Church, the Halles in Ancenis, and a panoramic view of Ancenis.
Coat of arms
Location of Ancenis
Ancenis Show map of France Ancenis Show map of Pays de la Loire
Coordinates: 47°22′24″N 1°17′37″W
Country	France
Region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Loire-Atlantique
Arrondissement	Châteaubriant-Ancenis
Canton	Ancenis-Saint-Géréon
Commune	Ancenis-Saint-Géréon
Area 1	20.07 km2 (7.75 sq mi)
Population  (2016)[1]	7,656
• Density	380/km2 (990/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal code	44150
Elevation	5–41 m (16–135 ft) (avg. 13 m or 43 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

It played a great historical role as a key location on the road to Nantes (23 miles to the southwest), the historical capital of Brittany. It was named "the key of Brittany" ^[4] and the door of Brittany.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1793 3,295 —     1800 2,923 −11.3% 1806 2,945 +0.8% 1821 3,888 +32.0% 1831 3,749 −3.6% 1836 3,667 −2.2% 1841 3,802 +3.7% 1846 3,824 +0.6% 1851 3,689 −3.5% 1856 4,198 +13.8% 1861 4,628 +10.2% 1866 4,148 −10.4% 1872 4,358 +5.1% 1876 5,177 +18.8% 1881 5,361 +3.6% 1886 5,544 +3.4% 1891 5,141 −7.3% 1896 5,048 −1.8%

Year Pop. ±% 1901 5,199 +3.0% 1906 4,998 −3.9% 1911 5,013 +0.3% 1921 4,222 −15.8% 1926 3,942 −6.6% 1931 4,040 +2.5% 1936 4,149 +2.7% 1946 4,815 +16.1% 1954 5,050 +4.9% 1962 5,102 +1.0% 1968 5,648 +10.7% 1975 6,997 +23.9% 1982 7,076 +1.1% 1990 6,896 −2.5% 1999 7,009 +1.6% 2006 7,407 +5.7% 2009 7,543 +1.8%

Sights

• Château d'Ancenis, a medieval and Renaissance castle
• The Loire river on which Ancenis is located (on the north bank)
• Church of Saint Peter, 15-16-17th century
• Chapel of the Ursulines
• Chapel Notre-Dame de Délivrance
• Old quarter with mediaeval houses
• Dolmen at Pierre-Couvretière

Sport

The soccer team is called RCA 44, (Racing Club D'Ancenis 44)

Personalities

• Henri Ottmann, painter
• Jordan Veretout, French footballer
• William Louiron, footballer

Twin towns

Ancenis is twinned with both the town of Kirkham in Lancashire, UK and Bad Brückenau, a spa town in Bad Kissingen district, northern Bavaria which is situated in the Rhön Mountains in Germany.

See also

• Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department
• Hortense Clémentine Tanvet Sculptor