Île de Nantes
The île de Nantes (French pronunciation: [il də nɑ̃t], Island of Nantes; Breton: Enez Naoned) is an island located in the centre of the city of Nantes, France, surrounded by two branches of the river Loire: the "bras de la Madeleine" (branch of the Madeleine) to the north, and the "bras de Pirmil" (branch of Pirmil) to the south. It is one of the eleven neighbourhoods of Nantes.
Dimensions and history
The island is 4.9 km (3.0 mi) long and 1 km (0.6 mi) wide due to joining together former small islands in the centre of Nantes, separated by the branches of the Loire river (sometimes referred to locally as the "Boires", as in "Boire des Récollets, "boire de Toussaint" and "boire de la Biesse"). The branches (intervening channels) were filled in during the 19th and 20th centuries. Chiefly these islands were the "île Beaulieu", "île Sainte-Anne", "île de Petite Biesse" and the "île de Grande Biesse" the more water meadow-like "prairie au Duc", "prairie d'Aval", "prairie d'Amont", "prairie de Balagué", "prairie de Pré-Joli".[1] It is one of the most developed and well-conserved parts of the city while featuring modern buildings such as its major basketball and indoor sports venue. Many trees and flowers are on the island, which in part helped the city to be recognized as European Green Capital in 2013.[2]
In March 2022,[3] construction began on the CHU de Nantes − Hôpital Loire Santé, a hospital complex on the island, intended to replace the Hôtel-Dieu de Nantes hospital in the city centre.[4] The 13-building complex will span 220,000 square metres (2,400,000 sq ft)[5] in the future quartier de La Santé (Health district), which will include a health research institute, a health campus for medical students, and an innovation business campus.[4] Being the largest hospital construction project in Europe,[4][5] with a budget of 1.25 billion euros,[4][6] it, according to Mayor Johanna Rolland, "positions Nantes at the head of the largest current European investments in the service of health".[5] The new Nantes CHU will open in mid-2028.[7]
Access
The île de Nantes is linked to the rest of the city by 13 bridges:
- 8 bridges cross the branch of the Madeleine:
- Éric Tabarly bridge
- Résal bridge (railway bridge)
- Willy Brandt's bridge
- Aristide Briand bridge
- Général Audibert bridge
- Haudaudine bridge
- Passerelle Victor-Schœlcher (pedestrian bridge)
- Anne-de-Bretagne bridge
- 5 bridges cross the branch of Pirmil:
- Léopold Sédar Senghor bridge
- Georges Clemenceau bridge
- Pirmil bridge
- Pornic bridge (railway bridge with a bicycle track)
- Trois continents bridge
The Vendée's bridge is a railway bridge, which crosses the island, but there is no railway station on the island.
Locations of interest
- Les Anneaux de Buren (Buren's Rings)
- Blockhaus DY10
- Carrousel des mondes marins (Carousel of the Marine Worlds)
- Grues Titan de Nantes (Titan cranes of Nantes)
- Hangar à bananes (Bananas facility)
- Jardin des Fonderies (Garden of the Foundries)
- Machines of the Isle of Nantes
- Palais de justice de Nantes (Nantes Courthouse)
- Palais des Sports de Beaulieu
References
- ↑ (in French) Map of the city of Nantes, municipal archives : http://www.archives.nantes.fr/PAGES/RESSOURCES/plans_numerises/plans_generaux.htm
- ↑ "European Green Capital".
- ↑ Deschamps, Hugo (3 February 2025). "Vidéo − Découvrez le vaste chantier du futur CHU de Nantes" [Video − Discover the vast construction site of the future Nantes CHU]. Ici (in French). Archived from the original on 7 June 2026. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Trillard, Laurène (21 November 2025). "Nantes: le nouvel hôpital attendu pour 2027 s'est déjà trouvé un nom" [Nantes: the new hospital expected to open in 2027 has already been given a name]. Le Figaro (in French). Archived from the original on 20 November 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 "A Nantes, un futur quartier de la santé aux ambitions européennes" [In Nantes, a future health district with European ambitions]. Agence France-Presse (in French). L'Express. 20 October 2023. Archived from the original on 7 June 2026. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ Guimard, Emmanuel (12 February 2025). "Le nouveau CHU de Nantes préfigure l'hôpital du futur" [The new Nantes CHU foreshadows the hospital of the future]. Les Echos (in French). Archived from the original on 17 February 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ Gambert, Philippe (6 May 2026). "'Des solutions alternatives sont déjà à l'étude': l'ouverture du nouvel hôpital de Nantes décalée à mi-2028" ['Alternative solutions are already being studied': the opening of the new Nantes hospital postponed to mid-2028]. Ouest-France (in French). Archived from the original on 7 June 2026. Retrieved 7 June 2026.