France · Pays de la Loire · Nantes
Doulon, Nantes — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Doulon is an eastern district of Nantes, a commune in its own right until 1908 and still gathered around église Saint-Médard du Vieux-Doulon.
About Doulon
Where to stay in Doulon
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Beds in Doulon are ordinary Nantes lodgings rather than tourist stock, spread through terraced streets east of the city centre where the old commune once ended. The choice splits two ways. Around the église Saint-Médard du Vieux-Doulon the quarter keeps its village grain, low-built and quiet.
Nearer Église Notre-Dame de Toutes-Aides the streets tighten into a working neighbourhood of shops and terraces. If you want Nantes at arm's length, this is the trade.
About Doulon
What are the main landmarks in Doulon?
Doulon counts churches before anything else. The église Saint-Médard du Vieux-Doulon anchors the old parish, while Église Notre-Dame de Toutes-Aides and église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de la Pilotière serve the quarters that later filled the ground between them. Two older structures break the pattern.
The Tour de la Massonnerie and the maison de Bel Air stand among the newer streets, holding ground that belonged to the commune before Nantes took it in. Playing fields and the Complexe Sportif du Croissant take up much of the open ground on the district's edge.
What is the history of Doulon?
Doulon was a commune of its own. Nantes annexed it in 1908, and the territory of the old parish largely makes up Doulon-Bottière, one of the 11 districts the city is divided into. Before that it stood in the Loire-Atlantique department as a separate commune bordering the city, with its own parish church, the église Saint-Médard du Vieux-Doulon.
Where is Doulon?
Doulon lies east of central Nantes, taking in Église Notre-Dame de Toutes-Aides and the older parish ground at Vieux-Doulon.
Good for
More areas in Nantes
Updated September 2026