Ancenis

Part of Ancenis-Saint-Géréon in Pays de la Loire, France

Coat of arms

Location of Ancenis

47°22′24″N 1°17′37″W / 47.3733°N 1.2936°W / 47.3733; -1.2936CountryFranceRegionPays de la LoireDepartmentLoire-AtlantiqueArrondissementChâteaubriant-AncenisCantonAncenis-Saint-GéréonCommuneAncenis-Saint-Géréon Area

20.07 km² (7.75 sq mi)Population

(2016)^[1]

7,656 • Density380/km² (990/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)Postal code

44150

Elevation5–41 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.

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.

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.

References

^ Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2016, INSEE
^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Ancenis, EHESS (in French).
^ Préfecture de Loire-Atlantique (2018-09-26). "Recueil des actes administratifs de Loire-Atlantique" (PDF). loire-atlantique.gouv.fr (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 2018-10-06.
^ Chateau d'Ancenis, accessed 25 June 2016