Rezé

"Reze" redirects here. For the Swiss wine grape, see Rèze. For the fictional character, see Reze (Chainsaw Man).
Rezé
Rezae (Gallo)
Reudied (Breton)
Commune
City center
City center
Flag of Rezé
Flag
Coat of arms of Rezé
Coat of arms
Location of Rezé
Map
Rezé is located in France
Rezé
Rezé
Rezé is located in Pays de la Loire
Rezé
Rezé
Coordinates: 47°11′30″N 1°34′10″W / 47.19167°N 1.56944°W / 47.19167; -1.56944
CountryFrance
RegionPays de la Loire
DepartmentLoire-Atlantique
ArrondissementNantes
CantonRezé-1 and 2
IntercommunalityNantes Métropole
Government
 • Mayor (2022–2026) Agnès Bourgeais[1]
Area
1
13.78 km2 (5.32 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
42,998
 • Density3,100/km2 (8,100/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
44143 /44400
Elevation1–42 m (3.3–137.8 ft)
(avg. 8 m or 26 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Rezé (French: [ʁəze] ⓘ; Breton: Reudied, Gallo: Rezae) is a commune (municipality) and former bishopric in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire region of western France. It is a southern suburb of Nantes.

It was also called Ratiate in the Middle Ages and Rezay in the High Middle Ages.

View of Rezé from the Maison Radieuse of Corbusier

History

Rezé dates back to the Roman era, when it was known as Portus Ratiatus (port of Rezé) and Ratiatum Pictonum Portus (Picton port of Rezé). Being populated by the Ambilatres tribe, whose location on the south bank of the lower Loire is not established with certainty, between Armorica and Celtica Gaul.

Rezé was an important port on the south shore of the Loire, established opposite the port of Namnetes, located north of the Loire, Nantes - Contigwic of its Gaulish name - and it is experiencing rapid development, which suggests a strong power of attraction, a place for meetings and trade between the various Celtic tribes of the region (Veneti, Namnetes, Ambilatres, Andecavis and of course Pictones).

In 510 a Latin Catholic Diocese of Rezé was established on territory split off from the Diocese of Poitiers. It was suppressed 851, its territory being reassigned to the nearby then Diocese of Nantes. No incumbents or other details available.

It has ruins of Gallo-Roman settlement and a priory of Saint Lucien.

In feudal times, it was the capital of Pays de Retz which means “Land of Rezé” within the Duchy of Brittany, after the invasion of the Bretons.

Geography

Location of the Rezé commune in the department of Loire-Atlantique

The commune is surrounded by the communes of Nantes, Vertou, Les Sorinières, Pont-Saint-Martin and Bouguenais. It is limited north by the Loire, east by the Sèvre Nantaise and the Ilette, west by the Jaguère and south by the boulevard périphérique of Nantes. Rezé-Pont-Rousseau station has rail connections to Pornic, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and Nantes.

Monuments

Municipal administration

Since the municipal elections of 1977, the communal council has always been filled in the first round of voting.

List of mayors after 1944
Term Name Political Party Position
September 1944-May 1945 Jean Vignais (1878–1954) Radical Socialist
May 1945-March 1949 Arthur Boutin (1903–1980) SFIO General Council
March 1949-March 1959 Georges Albert Bénezet (1892–1970) RPF
March 1959-February 1978 Alexandre Plancher (1909–1978) SFIO General Council
April 1978-February 1999 Jacques Floch (1938- ) PS Deputy
1999–2014 Gilles Retière PS
2014–2020 Gérard Allard PS
2020–2022 Hervé Neau DVG
2022–incumbent Agnès Bourgeais[1]

Sources: Yann Vince, "Rezé, histoire municipale" éditions Hérault, 1997

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 4,466—    
1800 3,519−3.35%
1806 4,989+5.99%
1821 4,756−0.32%
1831 4,968+0.44%
1841 5,277+0.61%
1846 6,203+3.29%
1851 6,644+1.38%
1856 7,054+1.20%
1861 7,209+0.44%
1866 7,423+0.59%
1872 6,946−1.10%
1876 6,849−0.35%
1881 7,377+1.50%
1886 7,418+0.11%
1891 7,431+0.04%
1896 7,803+0.98%
1901 8,751+2.32%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1906 8,919+0.38%
1911 9,424+1.11%
1921 10,368+0.96%
1926 11,050+1.28%
1931 12,325+2.21%
1936 13,499+1.84%
1946 16,395+1.96%
1954 19,000+1.86%
1962 28,276+5.10%
1968 33,509+2.87%
1975 35,730+0.92%
1982 33,562−0.89%
1990 33,262−0.11%
1999 35,478+0.72%
2007 37,846+0.81%
2012 39,377+0.80%
2017 41,411+1.01%
Source: EHESS[3] and INSEE[4]

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Rezé is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 4 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Rezé, EHESS (in French).
  4. ^ INSEE: Population en historique depuis 1968
  5. ^ Reze Website [1].
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