Nançay is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Cher department in central France.

Geography

The village is located south of the Sologne

Sologne

Sologne , a region of north-central France extending over portions of the départements of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher and Cher...

 and north-east of Vierzon

Vierzon

Vierzon is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre region of France.-Geography:A medium-sized town by the banks of the Cher River with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north...

. The Rère

Rère

The Rère is a long river in the Cher and Loir-et-Cher département, central France. Its source is at Presly. It flows generally west. It is a left tributary of the Sauldre into which it flows at Villeherviers....

 flows southwestward through the middle of the commune.

History

Its name comes from Nanciacos and first appeared in 1010 (Acts of the Abbot Engilbert). The territory belonged successively to the County of Sancerre and the area of La Chatre. Joan of Arc stayed there, leaving her name to the spring maiden. Its castle dates from the fifteenth century, and was rebuilt during the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

.

Population

Buildings and monuments

• The Nançay Radio Telescope
  Nançay Radio Telescope
  The Nançay Decimetric Radio Telescope is located in the small commune of Nançay, two hours' drive south of Paris, France. The radio telescope saw first light in 1965, after an inauguration by the then French president, Charles de Gaulle. It is one of the largest radio telescopes in the world...
  
  , 3 km (1.9 mi) north of the town. The site was chosen in 1953 by the École Normale Supérieure
  École Normale Supérieure
  The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
  
   because of its size, its relative proximity to Paris and the lack of industrial base that can generate noise. Inaugurated by Charles de Gaulle
  Charles de Gaulle
  Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
  
   in 1965. The 32 metres (105 ft) by 5 metres (16.4 ft) diameter decametric network (144 branches in 10 000 m²).
• The Pôle des Étoiles offers tours of the Radioastronomy facility, planetarium shows and self guided tours of its astronomy exhibits. It also includes educational facilities.
• Private Château
  Château
  A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
  
   built on a foundations of the fifteenth century castle, rebuilt in the Renaissance and then in 1848.
• Église Saint-Laurian, built in 1624, rebuilt in the nineteenth century after it was destroyed by fire.
• Capazza Gallery of contemporary art, an historical monument created in 1975 by Gerard and Sophie Capazza.

Gastronomy

• A shortbread
  Shortbread
  Shortbread is a type of unleavened biscuit which is traditionally made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts oatmeal flour. The use of plain white flour is common today, and other ingredients like ground rice or cornflour are sometimes added to alter the texture...
  
   biscuit
  Biscuit
  A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations....
  
   was created in 1953, after an error in following a recipe by Jacques and Albert Fleurier.

Personalities

• Alain Fournier
  Alain Fournier
  Alain Fournier was a computer graphics researcher.- Biography :Alain Fournier was born on November 5, 1943 in Lyon, France. He was married twice, first to Beverly Bickle and later to Adrienne Drobnies, with whom he had one daughter, Ariel.Fournier's early training was in chemistry, culminating in...
  
  lived and described the village in his novel Le Grand Meaulnes.