- Castle of the Dukes of Brittany

The museum's aim is to explain the city's history in terms of events, geography and socio-economics, and also through the artistic and literary representations which have helped to build the identity of Nantes.

The common thread running through the museum's exhibits: the city's continuing link with water.

An estuary city, mermaid city, open city, port of river and ocean, Nantes' identity is marked by its position at the confluence of fresh and salt water, of the Loire and the Atlantic.

The museum provides the keys to discover and understand Nantes and its region, from the Gallo-Roman town to the ambitious city of today.

The museum's display is arranged in seven major sequences, chronological and thematic.

The Castle, Nantes and Brittany up to the 17th century
Nantes, daughter of the river and the ocean
Commerce and the black gold in the 18th century
Nantes in Revolution
A colonial and industrial port (1815-1940)
A new city takes shape (1940-1990)
A great Atlantic city, today and tomorrow.

The exhibition ends with a vision of the city, a multimedia creation by a contemporary artist, occupying the entire area of the 32nd room.
Pierrick Sorin is the first guest artist.