Rezé

Rezé
Partial view of Rezé with, from left to right, the town hall, the church of Saint Peter and the Cité Radieuse
Coat of arms
Rezé
Location within Pays de la Loire region  Rezé
Coordinates: 47°11′00″N 1°33′00″W / 47.1833°N 1.55°WCoordinates: 47°11′00″N 1°33′00″W / 47.1833°N 1.55°W
Country	France
Region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Loire-Atlantique
Arrondissement	Nantes
Canton	Rezé and Bouaye
Intercommunality	Urban Community of Nantes Métropole
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Gilles Retière
Area^1	13.78 km^2 (5.32 sq mi)
Population (2005)^2	37,200
• Density	2,700/km^2 (7,000/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	44143 / 44400
Elevation	1–42 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. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Rezé (Breton: Reudied, Gallo: Rezae) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.

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

Inhabitants of Rezé are called Rezéens.

View of Rezé from the Maison Radieuse of Corbusier

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.

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 - Armorican Gauls - Rezé was an important port on the south shore of the Loire and a place for meetings and trade between the various Celtic tribes of the region (Veneti, Namnetes, Ambilatres, Andecavis and Pictones).

Administration

List of previous mayors

Period	Identity	Political Party	Position
March 1790-January 1791	Louis Michel Dupré Villaine (1735–1806)	Royalist
April 1791-December 1792	Pierre François Huard (1755–1814)	Republican
December 1792-March 1796	Ambroise Alphonse Le Coûteux (1740–1805)	Constitutional
April 1796-August 1800	Pierre François Huard (1755–1814)	Republican
August 1800-October 1803	Pierre François Huard (1755–1814)	Republican
October 1803-August 1807	Jean-Baptiste Ertaud (1763–1840)	Republican
August 1807-April 1820	Jean François Ertaud (1769–1840)	Governmental
April 1820-August 1830	Joseph de Monti de Rezé (1766–1850)	Legitimist
August 1830-November 1844	Pierre Giraud (1789–1844)	Orléanist	General Council
December 1844-March 1848	Joseph Delaville Leroux (1775–1855)	Orléanist
March 1848-September 1848	Arsène Leloup (1803–1876)	Republican
September 1848-March 1864	Philémon Chenantais (1805–1883)	Bonapartist
March 1864-September 1870	Hippolyte Aguesse (1799–1875)	Governmental
October 1870-October 1875	Hippolyte Aguesse (1799–1875)	Governmental
October 1875-August 1876	Félix Chauvelon (1825–1888)	Republican
October 1876-May 1878	Julien Albert (1807–1878)	Republican
May 1878-January 1890	Joseph Raphaël Lancelot (1832–1890)	Republican
March 1890-May 1896	Georges Grignon Dumoulin (1845–1904)	Republican
May 1896-May 1908	Ernest Sauvestre (1849–1932)	Radical Republican
May 1908-May 1929	Jean Baptiste Vigier (1863–1940)	Republican	Conseiller d'arrondissement
May 1929-May 1935	Charles Rivière (1870–1947)	Radical Socialist
May 1935-December 1936	Léon Taugeron (1886–1961)	Radical Socialist
December 1936-March 1941	Jean Vignais (1878–1954)	Radical Socialist
March 1941-September 1944	Alexandre Le Lamer (1873–1950)	Right
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
Since February 1999	Gilles Retière (1947- )	PS
Source : Yann Vince, "Rezé, histoire municipale" éditions Hérault, 1997

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

Demography

Historical population of Rezé

Year	1801	1866	1921	1936	1954	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2005
Population	3519	7423	10,368	13,499	19,000	28,276	33,509	35,730	33,562	33,262	35,478	37,200

(residents of multiple communes only counted once since 1962)
Source : http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/docs_ffc/psdc.htm and http://www.culture.cg44.fr/Archives/fonds/presentationfonds.html

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Rezé is twinned with:

• Saint-Wendel (Germany) since 1973
• Aïn Defla (Algeria) since 1985
• Dundalk (Ireland) since 1990
• Villa El Salvador (Peru) since 1991
• Ineu (Romania) since 2003
• Rural Community of Ronkh, Diawar (Senegal) since 2003
• Abu Dis (Palestine) since 2007^[1]

See also

• Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department
• Trentemoult - a small village in Rezé
• Rezé-Nantes Basket 44 - basketball club

References

1. Reze Website .

External links

• Official website (French)