History of Trentemoult

Before it was the colourful village you reach by Navibus, Trentemoult was an island in the Loire, home to fishermen, then to deep-sea captains and Cape Horners. Floods, river crossings, festivals, narrow lanes and exotic gardens: here is its history, told simply, with themed pages and three walks to see it on the ground.

• The timeline800 years, one date at a time.
• The quays walkAbout 1 h 30, from the Navibus to the Belem.
• The filmShot in the streets of the village.

Explore by theme

• Sailors and Cape HornersCabin boys, captains, and those who rounded Cape Horn.
• Loire fishermenSeine nets, shad, eels and glass eels.
• Floods and the SeilWhen the streets turned into canals.
• From the Roquios to the Navibus1887 to 1958, then the Navibus in 2005.
• Houses and coloursFive kinds of house, and the real story of the colours.
• Remarkable placesThe Pendule, the Sailors’ Virgin, the harbour, the Cour du Miracle.
• Shops of the pastTwelve cafés, ten grocers, and the shopfronts that remain.
• Festivals, regattas, carnivalRegattas, swimming and carnival floats.
• La Reine BlancheThe 1991 film, and what it left in the streets.
• People of the villageSailors, artists, resistance fighters, and the women of the neighbourhood.

Historical walks

• From the quays to the BelemAbout 1 h 30, from the Navibus to the memory of the Belem.
• Captains and utopiasCaptains’ houses, the sailors’ monument, studios.
• Walk 3: shops of the pastShopfronts on quai Surcouf, quai Boissard and rue Barban.
• From Trentemoult to Saint-LupienThe walk already on the site, on to the Roman town.

Timeline

1. Époque gallo-romaine – A branch of the Loire ran past Ratiatum, the ancestor of Rezé; goods were transferred and boats built there.
2. 1285 – Olive, widow of Guillaume Mathieu de l’Isle, gives part of the île des Chevaliers (Haute-Île and Basse-Île, upstream of Trentemoult) to the Templars.
3. XIVe siècle – The islands of Trentemoult, Norkiouse, Basse-Île and Haute-Île begin to fill with people.
4. 1397 – John IV grants the islands of Rezé (including Trentemoult), Bouguenais and Sainte-Croix a monopoly on seine fishing in the Loire.
5. XVIe–XVIIe s. – Building the quai de la Fosse in Nantes pushes the fishermen out to the islands of Rezé.
6. 1726 – A royal order asks captains to bring back plants and seeds: the start of the exotic gardens.
7. 1791 – The first public ferry across the Loire.
8. Années 1820 – “Rebel Trentemoult” rejects the mayor’s authority and more or less runs itself for about ten years.
9. 1826 – 90% of the houses stand on an islet 350 m by 150 m.
10. 1857-1858 – Two bridges finally join the village to the town: island life ends.
11. 1865 – The Sailors’ Virgin is raised on quai Surcouf.
12. 1866 – About 1,300 inhabitants; almost every household lives from the sea or the river.
13. 1872, 1904, 1910, 1955 – The four great floods people still remember.
14. 1883 – The first organised regattas; Trentemoult becomes a place for Nantes to come and play.
15. 1887 – The “Roquios”, steam boats, link Trentemoult to Nantes.
16. 1902 – Captain Julien Chauvelon and the Belem escape the eruption of Mount Pelée.
17. 1912 – A yacht designed by Talma Bertrand, a son of the neighbourhood, wins Olympic gold in Stockholm.
18. 1948 – Monument to sailors lost at sea, place Levoyer.
19. 1958 – The Roquios stop running.
20. Années 1960 – The Seil, a former branch of the Loire, is filled in.
21. 1980 – The marina opens.
22. 1986 – The Cap-Horniers building, by Dominique Perrault.
23. 1991 – Release of the film La Reine Blanche, shot in the village.
24. 1998 – A first house painted bright red starts the “colour revolution”.
25. 2001 – The Maison des Isles opens.
26. 2005 – The Navibus brings the crossing back.
27. 2009 – Roman Signer’s Pendule (Estuaire) is installed facing the village.

Sources: Rezé Histoire no. 97 (April 2026), “3 walks to understand Trentemoult”, Rezé Histoire association – rezehistoire.fr. Texts rewritten by trentemoult.com; for more, get the magazine.