Brains, Loire-Atlantique
Encyclopedia
Brains is a French commune
, located in the Loire-Atlantique
departement in the Pays de la Loire
region
. The commune is a part of historical Brittany
, in the traditional region of Retz
, and in the historical region of Nantes
.
Its inhabitants are called Brennois, or Brainnois.
In the 2008 census Brains had inhabitants.
Jules Verne
visited Brains many times, at La Guerche, the house of his uncle, and at Le Plessis.
and Lac de Grand-Lieu
, 18 km southwest of Nantes and 4 km northwest of Bouaye
. Neighbouring communes are Le Pellerin
, Cheix-en-Retz
, Port-Saint-Père
, Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
, Bouaye
, Bouguenais
, La Montagne
and Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau
.
According to the classification established by INSEE
in 1999, Brains is a monocentric
rural commune
which is a part of the urban area of Nantes and the urban space of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire (cf. Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department)
The commune is bordered on the southwest by the Acheneau river.
. Today a private residence, it overlooks the Acheneau on the Cour du Pesle.
The château of Le Plessis was the property of Pierre-Suzanne Lucas de La Championnière, lieutenant of François de Charette
during the War in the Vendée from 1793-1796.
The château of La Guerche was dependent on Le Psle until the 17th century. Jules Verne
was welcomed there by his uncle Prudent Allotte de la Fuye, owner from 1828 à 1837, during his summer vacations. He wrote some impromptu poetry there.
The church was constructed in 1875 on the site of an older church dating from 1676. The clock tower, with a heigh of 50 metres, dates from 1901.
The rectory was sold as national property during the Revolution, and is now "l'espace des Clos Mâts", a cultural site with a library and music.
At the end of the 19th century, there were six windmills, of which only those of Charbonnières, Le Breuil, La Fouelle, and La Roche du Gré now survive.
The Napoleonic cadastre
denoted a rural territory dotted by villages which are still visible today.
Port Hamoneau, witness to the economic importance of the Acheneau until 1914 for the export of wine and red sand to Nantes, témoin du rôle économique de l'Acheneau jusqu'en 1914 pour l'acheminement du vin et du sable rouge vers Nantes
, now welcomes hikers and anglers who come to enjoy the peace and quiet of the surrounding marshes, in the shade of the poplar trees.
bus, linking the town to the terminus (Neustrie) of Line 3 of the Nantes Tramway.
The population of the commune is relatively young. The percentage of people older than 60 (11.8%) is less than the national average (22.1%) and the departmental average (20.4%)
Unlike the national and departmental averages, the male population of the commune is higher than the female (50.4%, versus 48.4% nationally and 48.5% departmentally).
The population distribution of the commune by age, in 2008, was :
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
, located in the Loire-Atlantique
Loire-Atlantique
Loire-Atlantique is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean.-History:...
departement in the Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire is one of the 27 regions of France. It is one of the regions created in the late 20th century to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful so-called "balancing metropolises" ¹...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
. The commune is a part of historical Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, in the traditional region of Retz
Pays de Retz
The Pays de Retz is a historical region of France that currently forms part of the Loire-Atlantique department, but which previously formed part of the Duchy of Brittany....
, and in the historical region of Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
.
Its inhabitants are called Brennois, or Brainnois.
In the 2008 census Brains had inhabitants.
Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
visited Brains many times, at La Guerche, the house of his uncle, and at Le Plessis.
Geography
Location
Brains is located between the LoireLoire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
and Lac de Grand-Lieu
Lac de Grand-Lieu
Lac de Grand-Lieu is a lake located to the south-west of Nantes, in the Loire-Atlantique, France, and almost entirely in Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu. At an elevation of 5 m, its surface area is 62.92 km²....
, 18 km southwest of Nantes and 4 km northwest of Bouaye
Bouaye
Bouaye is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France....
. Neighbouring communes are Le Pellerin
Le Pellerin
Le Pellerin is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.-See also:*Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department...
, Cheix-en-Retz
Cheix-en-Retz
Cheix-en-Retz is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.-See also:*Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department...
, Port-Saint-Père
Port-Saint-Père
Port-Saint-Père is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.-See also:*Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department...
, Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
Saint-Léger-des-Vignes
Saint-Léger-des-Vignes is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France.-References:*...
, Bouaye
Bouaye
Bouaye is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France....
, Bouguenais
Bouguenais
Bouguenais is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France near Nantes.Bouguenais is home to the Nantes Atlantique Airport.-Economy:...
, La Montagne
La Montagne, Loire-Atlantique
La Montagne is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.-External links:* http://www.nantesmetropole.fr/Montagne/...
and Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau
Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau
Saint-Jean-de-Boiseau is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.-References:*...
.
According to the classification established by INSEE
INSEE
INSEE is the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies. It collects and publishes information on the French economy and society, carrying out the periodic national census. Located in Paris, it is the French branch of Eurostat, European Statistical System...
in 1999, Brains is a monocentric
Aire urbaine
The aire urbaine is a statistical region created by the INSEE that comprises a commuter belt surrounding a contiguous urban core...
rural commune
Unité urbaine
In France an unité urbaine is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas...
which is a part of the urban area of Nantes and the urban space of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire (cf. Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department)
The commune is bordered on the southwest by the Acheneau river.
Toponymy
The Gaulish root Nemus Brenno (forest of Brenno) is mentioned in a document of the cartulary of Buzay around 1179.History
Most of the territory of the commune, covered by a vast forest, belonged during the Ancien Regime to the Dukes of Brittany. Settlements in the area gave birth to a number of lordships with some measure of authority: Jasson, Le Plessis, Le Pesle, Lorière, La Sauvagerie, La Pilaudière and La Guerche. The lordship of Le Pesle, the most important, was originally an appanage of BriordBriord
Briord is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.-Population:...
. Today a private residence, it overlooks the Acheneau on the Cour du Pesle.
The château of Le Plessis was the property of Pierre-Suzanne Lucas de La Championnière, lieutenant of François de Charette
François de Charette
François Athanase de Charette de la Contrie was a French soldier and politician, one of the leaders of the bloody events termed the "Revolt in the Vendée"...
during the War in the Vendée from 1793-1796.
The château of La Guerche was dependent on Le Psle until the 17th century. Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
was welcomed there by his uncle Prudent Allotte de la Fuye, owner from 1828 à 1837, during his summer vacations. He wrote some impromptu poetry there.
The church was constructed in 1875 on the site of an older church dating from 1676. The clock tower, with a heigh of 50 metres, dates from 1901.
The rectory was sold as national property during the Revolution, and is now "l'espace des Clos Mâts", a cultural site with a library and music.
At the end of the 19th century, there were six windmills, of which only those of Charbonnières, Le Breuil, La Fouelle, and La Roche du Gré now survive.
The Napoleonic cadastre
Cadastre
A cadastre , using a cadastral survey or cadastral map, is a comprehensive register of the metes-and-bounds real property of a country...
denoted a rural territory dotted by villages which are still visible today.
Port Hamoneau, witness to the economic importance of the Acheneau until 1914 for the export of wine and red sand to Nantes, témoin du rôle économique de l'Acheneau jusqu'en 1914 pour l'acheminement du vin et du sable rouge vers Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, now welcomes hikers and anglers who come to enjoy the peace and quiet of the surrounding marshes, in the shade of the poplar trees.
List of mayors
- 1977 - François Charpentier
- 1977-1983 - Joseph Albert
- 1983-current - Jean-Pierre Legendre
Transport
Brains is serviced by the number 88 SemitanSemitan
Semitan is the company responsible for the comprehensive public transport network of the Nantes Métropole, the urban community of the French city of Nantes. The network operated by Semitan is marketed under the name and logo of tan, and this abbreviated form is also sometimes used to refer to the...
bus, linking the town to the terminus (Neustrie) of Line 3 of the Nantes Tramway.
Demographic evolution
In 2008, Brains had 2537 inhabitants (an increase of 17% since the census of 1999). The commune is the 3393rd largest in France (4236th in 1999), and 116th out of the 221 communes in Loire-Atlantique.The population of the commune is relatively young. The percentage of people older than 60 (11.8%) is less than the national average (22.1%) and the departmental average (20.4%)
Unlike the national and departmental averages, the male population of the commune is higher than the female (50.4%, versus 48.4% nationally and 48.5% departmentally).
The population distribution of the commune by age, in 2008, was :
- 50.4% male (0 to 14 years = 27.1%, 15 to 29 years = 14.9%, 30 to 44 years = 24.7%, 45 to 59 years = 21.9%, over 60 years = 113%);
- 49.6% female (0 to 14 years = 24.3%, 15 to 29 years = 13.2%, 30 to 44 years = 28.1%, 45 to 59 years = 21.9%, over 60 years = 12.5%).
See also
- Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department