Saint-Nazaire

Saint-Nazaire is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière". Given its location, Saint-Nazaire has a long tradition of fishing and shipbuilding.

Archaeologists believe that Saint-Nazaire is built upon the remnants of Corbilo, an Armorican Gaulish city populated by the Namnetes tribe, which was the second-largest Gaulish city, after Massilia. Archeology suggests that the area has been inhabited since at least the Neolithic period, as evidenced by the presence of monuments like the tumulus of Dissignac and the dolmen located in the centre of the present-day city, and ancient bronzes found in the vicinity.