Angers

Angers
Chateauangers.jpg
Château d'Angers
Coat of arms of Angers
Angers is located in France
Angers
Administration
Country France
Region Pays de la Loire
Department Maine-et-Loire
Arrondissement Angers
Intercommunality Angers Loire Métropole
Mayor Jean-Claude Antonini (PS)
(2001–2014)
Statistics
Elevation 12–64 m (39–210 ft)
(avg. 20 m/66 ft)
Land area1 42.70 km2 (16.49 sq mi)
Population2 157,000  (1999 estimate)
 - Density 3,677 /km2 (9,520 /sq mi)
Time zone CET (GMT +1)
INSEE/Postal code 49007/ 49000
Website angers.fr/foreign-versions/english-version/
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.
Maison d'Adam, Adam's House, the oldest house of Angers

Angers is a city in the Maine-et-Loire department in north-western France about 300 km (190 mi) south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins.

Angers proper has a population of 157,000 inhabitants, while c. 283,000 live in its metropolitan area. The city traces its roots to early Roman times. It occupies both banks of the Maine, which is spanned by six bridges. The district along the river is famous for its flourishing nurseries and market gardens. It is well known for its fresh produce and cut flowers.

Contents

History

The first sign of human presence on the site of Angers is a stone tool dated back to 400,000 BC (Lower Paleolithic). The earliest known inhabitants were the Andecavi, a Gallic tribe that was overrun by the Romans. The city, while under Roman rule, was called Juliomagus.

The Council of Angers was held here in 453.

The city suffered severely from the invasions of the Vikings (in 845 and succeeding years)

Angers was once the capital of the historic province of Anjou. Beginning in the ninth century, the region was controlled by a powerful family of feudal lords. It is the cradle of the House of Plantagenet who ruled England from the twelfth century and gave name to the Angevin Kings of England. During this time the Hospital of Saint-Jean was built in Angers by King Henry II of England. The edifice still stands to this day, now housing an important museum. In 1204 Angers was conquered by King Philippe II.

The Huguenots took it in 1585, and the Vendean royalists were defeated nearby in 1793 during the siege of Angers. Until the French Revolution Angers was the seat of a celebrated university founded in the 14th century.

Main sights

The site of a massive and ancient château, the city is also noted for the impressive twin spires of the twelfth century Cathedral of Saint-Maurice. Other noteworthy churches around Angers include St. Serge, an abbey-church of the 12th and 15th centuries, and the twelfth century La Trinité Cathedral.

The elaborately sculptured eleventh and twelfth century arcades of the famous abbey of Saint Aubin survive in the courtyard of the Prefecture and Hotel du Departement. The tower of the abbey church has also survived nearby[1]

Ruins of the old churches of Toussaint (thirteenth century) and Notre-Dame du Ronceray (eleventh century) are also nearby. The ancient hospital of St. Jean (twelfth century) is occupied by Jean Lurcat's tapestries. The Logis Barrault, a mansion built in 1486-92, houses the Musee des Beaux-Arts, which has a large collection of paintings and sculptures. In 1984 the former abbey church of Toussaint became the Musee David d'Angers consisting of works by the sculptor David d'Angers, who was a native of the town. In the middle of a main boulevard near the museum stands his bronze statue of René of Anjou, who was born in the chateau of Angers.

The Hôtel de Pincé or d'Anjou (1523–1530) is the finest of the stone mansions of Angers. There are also many curious wooden houses of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Palais de Justice, the Catholic Institute, a fine theatre, and a hospital with 1500 beds are the more remarkable of the modern buildings of the town. Angers is the seat of a bishopric, dating from the third century; a prefecture; a court of appeal; and a court of assizes (criminal courts). It has a tribunal of first instance, a tribunal of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, a chamber of commerce, a branch of the Bank of France, and several learned societies.

Economy

The early prosperity of the town is largely due to the nearby quarries of slate, whose abundant use for the roofs of Angers led to the city's nickname, the "Black City" (or "La ville noire", in French). Other industries (noted in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica) included the distillation of liqueurs from fruit (the orange liqueur Cointreau is only distilled in the town of Angers and in the surrounding area of Saint-Barthélémy-d'Anjou); cable, rope, and thread-making; the manufacture of boots, shoes, umbrellas, and parasols; weaving of sail-cloth and fabrics; machine construction; wire-drawing; and the manufacture of sparkling wines and preserved fruits. The chief articles of commerce, besides slate and manufactured goods, were hemp, early vegetables, fruit, flowers, and live-stock.

Many of these industries in 1911 have since disappeared. Nowadays industry consists of manufacturing lorries (Scania) and computers (Bull, Packard-Bell, NEC) as well as research in horticulture and biotechnologies.

Transport

Angers on the banks of the Maine

Angers is connected by A11 autoroute to Paris (c. 295 km) and to Nantes (c. 90 km). Gare d'Angers-Saint-Laud railway station has a direct TGV service to Paris (1 hour 35 minutes). The nearest airport is Angers - Loire Airport.

In 1850 a catastrophic failure of the Angers Bridge caused the deaths of over 200 soldiers. The disaster inhibited the construction of suspension bridges in France for two decades.

Culture

Angers has an orchestra, ONPL (Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire), shared with Nantes, a local theatre NTA (Nouveau Théatre d'Angers) and a dance school CNDC (Centre National de Danse Contemporaine).

Angers has a few important museums on the national level:

Angers is an important center for tapestries, especially contemporary tapestry.

It calls itself the "most flowered city in Europe", and its displays of live and cut flowers are stunning. The city's Jardin des Plantes d'Angers and Jardin botanique de la Faculté de Pharmacie d'Angers are a historic botanical gardens, and its Arboretum Gaston Allard is a major arboretum. It is also well-known for being the seat of important cultural events, such as the film festival Premiers Plans, Tour de Scènes (free concerts in the streets) and Les Accroche-Coeurs (free street festival).

Sport

Angers has many sport teams playing at top levels:

Education

Colleges and universities

A centre of learning, Angers boasts two renowned universities and several specialized institutions, altogether responsible for more than 40,000 students. The city is host of Catholic University of the West (UCO), one of five Catholic universities in France and a state university University of Angers.

Angers's other educational institutions include lycées; training colleges, an engineering school in manufacturing (ENSAM), an engineering school in electronics and computer science (ESEO), and a school of fine art. Its education and research institutes are the driving force behind the city's science and technology industries.

Angers's Business School is ESSCA (Ecole Superieure des Sciences Commerciales d'Angers). Formerly part of the UCO, the school's program is of a duration of five years. ESSCA is one of the best business schools in France, recruiting students after the Baccalaureat.

In addition to French schools and universities, an American university St. Edward's University has new expanding campus in Angers. St. Edward’s University is a diverse, Catholic liberal arts institution from Austin, TX. The university has a partnership with UCO, and offers a variety of courses of undergraduate level and professional training.

Public libraries

The city operates the Touissant Main Library and nine branch libraries.[2]

Miscellaneous

Births

The city is the birthplace of:

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Angers is twinned with:

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Eglise Saint Aubin
  2. ↑ "Bibliothèque, mode d'emploi." City of Angers. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
  3. ↑ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963. 
  4. ↑ "Pisa - Official Sister Cities". Comune di Pisa. http://www.comune.pisa.it/english/doc/gemhome.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-16. 

External links