Nancy, Prefecture in Grand Est region, France.
Nancy is a big city on the left bank of the Meurthe in northeastern France and the administrative center of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department. It encompasses a medieval old town with narrow streets and eighteenth-century neoclassical expansions linked by several large squares that form a planned architectural ensemble.
In the late fifteenth century, Duke René the Second defeated the Burgundian Duke Charles the Bold in a decisive battle that secured the independence of Lorraine. In the eighteenth century, Stanisław Leszczyński, the deposed King of Poland and Duke of Lorraine, expanded the city with new squares and symmetrical layouts.
Glasswork studios and furniture workshops in the old town and nearby districts still practice techniques inherited from the early twentieth century. Visitors notice this heritage in many cafés and restaurants, where interiors display handcrafted lamps, chairs and decorative panels that reflect the local design tradition.
The center is compact enough to explore on foot, with most sights within a short walk between the medieval old town and the neoclassical squares. Weekends and university term times bring more activity, as students fill the cafés and parks throughout the day.
At one end of a central square stands a late eighteenth-century triumphal arch originally conceived as a city gate, now marking the entrance to the Pépinière park. The wrought-iron gates linking several squares were individually crafted by a single artisan and display different floral and geometric motifs.
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