Angers (France) – Location, History, Facts

Angers is a city in western France and the prefecture of Maine-et-Loire, within the Pays de la Loire region.

Angers, France.

Country: France
Coordinates: 47.4728° N, 0.5556° W
Country and region: France; Pays de la Loire
Administrative role: Prefecture of Maine-et-Loire
Official commune identifier: 49007, according to the supplied geo.api.gouv.fr URL

Angers overview

Angers is a city in western France and the prefecture of Maine-et-Loire, within the Pays de la Loire region. Its defining role combines county-level administration with a historic position in Anjou and a modern specialization in horticulture and plant-related institutions. The city stands on the Maine, the river formed north of the city by the confluence of the Mayenne, Sarthe, and Loir. Its medieval stronghold, Plantagenet associations, and connection with René of Anjou give the administrative city a historical structure that remains visible in its heritage and public identity.

Official recorded sales

Residential property prices in Angers

The median recorded residential sale price was €3,173 per m² across 11,975 qualifying transactions in 2021–2025. This is a historical transaction measure, not a live asking price or a valuation.

Apartment median: €3,140/m²
House median: €3,264/m²
Source updated: 2026-07-17

Open the full data analysis and methodology

Angers coordinates

Angers is commonly mapped at approximately 47.4728° N, 0.5556° W, or 47.4728, -0.5556 in decimal degrees.

Degrees: 47.4728° N, 0.5556° W

Decimal: 47.4728, -0.5556

Where Angers is located

Angers lies about 300 kilometres southwest of Paris, in western France. The commune covers 42.70 square kilometres and forms part of Angers Loire Métropole, an intercommunality comprising 29 communes. Its central geographic feature is the Maine River: the Maine is formed north of the city where the Mayenne, Sarthe, and Loir meet, then flows south toward the Loire. This position places the city within the wider Loire landscape; the source describes it as being at the edge of the Val de Loire UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional natural park.

A prefectural seat within Maine-et-Loire

Angers performs a county-level administrative role as the prefecture of Maine-et-Loire in the Pays de la Loire region.

Its clearest civic function is administrative: the city is the prefecture of Maine-et-Loire, making it the departmental seat identified in the source dossier. That role places Angers within France’s territorial system rather than defining it only through its historic monuments or regional economy. The commune also belongs to Angers Loire Métropole, an intercommunality of 29 communes, linking the city to a wider group of local authorities. The source material does not specify individual government offices or services, so the prefectural and intercommunal roles are the supported level of description.

A city organized around the Maine and the Loire landscape

Angers’ urban setting is structured by the Maine River and by its position between a regional river confluence and the Loire.

The Maine gives the city a specific spatial relationship to the surrounding river system. It is formed north of Angers by the Mayenne, Sarthe, and Loir, and then runs south toward the Loire. This makes the city part of a connected watershed rather than an isolated inland settlement. Its 42.70-square-kilometre commune sits within a larger metropolitan structure of 29 communes, while the medieval centre is dominated by the Château d’Angers. The source also places the city at the edge of the Val de Loire UNESCO World Heritage Site and Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional natural park.

From fortified stronghold to intellectual centre

The city’s historical public role developed from a major stronghold into an intellectual centre associated with René of Anjou.

Angers is described as a major stronghold, a function linked to its historical position in Anjou and to the presence of the Château d’Angers in the medieval centre. Its history is also associated with the Plantagenet dynasty, connecting the city to a wider period of dynastic power. During the reign of René of Anjou, it became an intellectual centre. These stages show a change in public use and civic meaning: defensive and dynastic importance was joined by a courtly and intellectual role. The source does not provide dates for each transition, so the sequence is presented without a detailed chronology.

Plant-sector institutions anchor the modern economy

Horticulture and plant science form a documented economic specialization, supported by Végépolys and the Community Plant Variety Office.

The city’s contemporary institutional profile includes a strong horticultural and plant-sector specialization. The source identifies Végépolys as a leading European horticultural competitiveness cluster and states that the Community Plant Variety Office is headquartered in Angers. Together, these references connect local economic activity with organized research, industry, and plant-variety administration. They also distinguish the city’s modern role from its historical identity as a stronghold or former capital of Anjou. The dossier does not list the cluster’s member organizations or describe the office’s individual operations, so their supported significance is institutional presence within the plant sector.

An Anjou capital expressed through medieval heritage

Angers represents the historical centre of Anjou through its former capital status, château, dynastic associations, and the Apocalypse Tapestry.

The city was historically the capital of Anjou, a role that gives its heritage a regional rather than merely local reference. The medieval centre is dominated by the Château d’Angers, which houses the Apocalypse Tapestry. The source also connects the city with the Plantagenet dynasty and with René of Anjou’s intellectual milieu. These elements make the place a material expression of Anjou’s political and cultural history. Historical nicknames recorded in the source include “Black City,” “Athens of the West,” “City of Flowers,” “Green City,” and “Angers the White,” but the dossier does not explain their individual origins, so they are not interpreted here.

Angers facts

France; Pays de la Loire
Prefecture of Maine-et-Loire
49007, according to the supplied geo.api.gouv.fr URL
42.70 km², according to the Wikipedia dossier
On the Maine, formed by the Mayenne, Sarthe, and Loir north of the city
Angers Loire Métropole comprises 29 communes
Former capital of Anjou and a major stronghold associated with the Plantagenet dynasty