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For other uses, see Le Mans (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 48°01′12″N 0°11′56″E / 48.020013, 0.198784

Commune of Le Mans

Palais of Comtes du Maine, birth place of Henry II of England
Location
Le Mans (France)
Le Mans
Administration
Country France
Region Pays de la Loire
Department Sarthe (préfecture)
Arrondissement Le Mans
Canton Chief town of 9 cantons
Intercommunality Communauté urbaine du Mans
Mayor Jean-Claude Boulard
(2001–2008)
Statistics
Elevation 38 m–134 m
(avg. 51 m)
Land area¹ 52.81 km²
Population²
(1999)		 146,105
 - Density 2,766.6/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 72181/ 72000
Dialling code (0)243
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
France

Le Mans (pronounced [ləmɑ̃] in French) is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the préfecture (capital) of the Sarthe département, and is furthermore the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles. It has been host to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race since 1923.

Contents

History

First mentioned by Ptolemy (Geography 2.8.8), the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, a sub tribe of the Aedui. Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum (City of the Cenomani). Their city lies in the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. An amphitheatre built in the 3rd century AD is still visible.

Gregory of Tours mentions a Frankish sub-king Rigomer, who was killed by Clovis in his campaign to unite the Frankish territories.

As the principal city of Maine, Le Mans was the stage for struggles in the 11th century between the counts of Anjou and the dukes of Normandy. When the Normans had control of Maine, William the Conqueror was able to successfully invade England; however in 1069 the citizens revolted and expelled the Normans, which led to Hugh V being proclaimed count of Maine.

During World War II, Le Mans was liberated by the US 5th Armored Division on August 8, 1944 following their breakout from the Normandy beachheads.

Sights

Le Mans has a well-preserved old town (Cité Plantagenêt, also called Vieux Mans) and a cathedral: Cathédrale St-Julien, dedicated to St Julian of Le Mans, who is honoured as the city's first bishop. There are remnants of a Roman wall in the old town and Roman baths by the river.

Demographics

At the 1999 French census, there were 293,159 inhabitants in the metropolitan area (aire urbaine) of Le Mans, with 146,105 of these living in the city proper (commune).

Demographic evolution of Le Mans between 1962 and 2006
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006
132,181 143,246 152,285 147,697 145,502 146,105 141,432

source : http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/docs_ffc/psdc.htm

Sport

Motorsport

The city is best known for its connection with motorsports. There are actually two separate racing tracks at Le Mans, though they share certain portions. The smaller is the Bugatti Circuit (named after Ettore Bugatti, founder of the car company bearing his name), a relatively short permanent circuit which is used for racing throughout the year. The longer and more famous Circuit de la Sarthe is composed partly of public roads, which are closed to the public when the track is in use for racing, and has been host to the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race since 1923. Boutiques and shops are set up during the race selling merchandise and promoting products for cars. The first French Grand Prix took place here in 1906. The "Le Mans start" takes its name from the way racers lined up across the street from their cars and ran across the street and jumped into their cars to begin.

Basketball

Football

Births

Le Mans was the birthplace of:

Sister Cities

Others

The culinary specialty of Le Mans is rillettes, a shredded pork pâté.

At Mayet, near Le Mans, and with a height of 342 m, the Le Mans-Mayet transmitter is one of the tallest radio masts in France.

External links

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