The Ile Feydeau is now joined to the town and to the Ile Gloriette where once the Loire freely flowed. (Nantes used to be considered as the “Venice of the west”). This urban isle stands out from its surroundings and its untouched 18th century character makes it a firm favourite with the locals.
Nantes slave trade port
The opulent life-style in 18th century Nantes was guaranteed by 2 main sources: Africa and America. Ships built and fitted in Nantes ran the triangular trade between France’s number one port at the time, the Guinean coast and the West Indies. The principle was cruelly simple: buy Africans and sell them on for sugarcane to be refined in Nantes. This is how colonial products like coffee, cocoa, pepper, indigo and exotic wood came to be unloaded along the quayside of Quai de La Fosse and île Feydeau. It was here in particular that the shipbuilders built up their dynasties.
