"An ancient city : NANTERRE" a Nanterre Travel Page by GUYON

Nanterre is the capital of the department des Hauts de Seine, in the West side of Paris.
It includes a part of La Defense district and it is very sprawling.
95.000 inhabitants live in Nanterre and a significant share are emigrates, mainly from North Africa. Everybody lives there rather in harmony and there are few concerns, at least less than it is often told.
The city is on the way of the national road 13 which joins PARIS to Normandy and the highway A86 which rings the capital crosses Nanterre.
The city history is very ancient and it begins before the Romans with the Gaulishes.
The most famous figure of Nanterre is Saint Genevieve who organized the defense of Paris against the Attila and the Huns (church Sainte Genevieve in Paris is the Pantheon).
Until the beginning of the 20e Century, Nanterre was the country side of Paris and was famous for its Rosiere, a young lady, chosen for her beauty and above all her virtue.
Yearly, in November, the city remembers and organizes a great festival transforming the city center into a farm.
The memory of the shanty town which was there until the 70's does a disservice to Nanterre but it is now a part of history.

Even if Nanterre has some monuments (few), it is not a touristic goal except for La Defense or the Mont Valerien.
So, the town organizes several festivals each years for the inhabitants pleasure.

It is difficult to park in the city center. Fortunately, there are 2 underground parkings : at the market place and beside the movie theater.