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Origin and history

The prefecture hotel of Loire-Atlantique, located in Nantes, has its origin in the Chamber of Accounts of Brittany, installed in 1492 by Anne de Bretagne. The first building, built between 1515 and 1553 under Francis I and Henry II on the site of the convent of the Cordeliers, also housed the provincial archives. In the 18th century, its oldness and soil erosion, caused by the weight of documents, made its reconstruction indispensable. In 1755, architect Pierre Vigné de Vigny proposed a plan including a place in the Chamber, but the project was declared obsolete in 1759.

The reconstruction was entrusted to Jean-Baptiste Ceineray, who was appointed architect of the city in 1759. He drew the plans as early as 1760, integrating the building into a larger urban project. Despite controversies (budgetary overruns, quarrels over the royal coat of arms and Bretons), the first stone was laid in 1763. The work, slowed down by political conflicts and a fire in 1774, ended in 1782. The House of Auditors occupied the premises only until 1790, when it was abolished by the Constituent Assembly.

The building was transformed into a prefecture hotel in 1800 and was modified in the 19th century: two wings were added to house the prefect (1825-1826) and a closed garden was created in front of the south façade. Neoclassical architecture, inspired by Angel-Jacques Gabriel, is characterized by its symmetry, its carved pediments (Armories of France and Brittany) and a monumental staircase. In 1947, the building became the seat of the Loire-Atlantique prefecture.

Inside, organized around a vestibule decorated with lily flowers, includes a prosecutor's room and a panel room. Contemporary critics are mixed: Stendhal the "nigaud" judge, while historians like Hélène Rousteau-Chambon see it as a masterpiece. The site, below the cathedral, however, suffers from an urban environment that is not very rewarding, with later buildings masking its original perspective.

The monument illustrates the tensions between royal and provincial power in Brittany, visible in debates about coats of arms or financing. It also bears witness to the urbanization of Nantes in the 18th century, marked by ambitious projects such as those of Ceineray. Its history reflects the political changes from the Ancien Régime to the Revolution and then to the Napoleonic departmental administration.

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