Commerce Square

You are now standing on Commerce Square, an ideal meeting place, thanks to its proximity to public transport and the city’s main streets. The square facing the former Stock Exchange, now Fnac, and the multiplex is filled with little chalets at Christmas and terraces in summer. But before becoming the heart of this bustling city, this square had an entirely different function. So many things have changed since the Middle Ages that it’s rather hard to conceive, but try to imagine yourself outside the city walls. To the right of the cinema were moats, a water-filled ditch that surrounded the fortified walls. Behind you, instead of tramway lines picture the arm of the river, through which merchant ships would arrive from the Loire. In those days, you’d have been standing in the Wine Port Square. In the 15th century, the rise of maritime activity prompted shipowners to build new, more practical, and modern infrastructures, which would one day become La Fosse dock.Wine Port Square was gradually abandoned, taking a new turn to become Nantes’ main stock exchange. The Stock Exchange Palace was built in 1790 by Nantes architect Mathurin Crucy, who is also behind the Royale Square and Graslin Opera House. The statues on the balcony represent four 18th-century French privateers. If you continue around the old Stock Exchange Palace, you’ll be able to admire the ten statues adorning its facade. Destroyed during the Second World War bombings, they were reinstalled in 2019. From left to right, they represent the city of Nantes, Prudence, Fine Arts, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Abundance, Astronomy, and the Loire. Proceed along the Stock Exchange Square, then turn right into Jean-Jacques Rousseau Street.