Free Walking Sightseeing Tour #1 in Le Mans, France

Legend

Churches & Art
Nature
Water & Wind
Historical
Heritage & Space
Tourism
Paid Tours & Activities

Tour Facts

Number of sights 15 sights
Distance 3.6 km
Ascend 107 m
Descend 77 m

Explore Le Mans in France with this free self-guided walking tour. The map shows the route of the tour. Below is a list of attractions, including their details.

Individual Sights in Le Mans

Sight 1: Église Notre-Dame-du-Pré

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Église Notre-Dame-du-PréThis illustration was made by Peter Potrowl. Please credit this with : © Peter Potrowl in the immediate vicinity of the image. A link to my website sitemai.eu would be much appreciated but isn't mandatory. An email to Peter Potrowl would be appreciated too. Do not copy this image illegally by ignoring the terms of the license below, as it is not in the public domain. If you would like special permission to use, license, or purchase the image please contact me Peter Potrowl to negotiate terms. More free pictures in my website. Donations are accepted here and here. / CC BY 3.0

The Church of Notre-Dame-du-Pré is a Catholic religious building built in the city of Le Mans between the 11th and 12th centuries.

Wikipedia: Église Notre-Dame-du-Pré (FR)

590 meters / 7 minutes

Sight 2: Église Saint-Benoît

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The Saint-Benoît church is a religious building located in the city of Le Mans, within the historic district.

Wikipedia: Église Saint-Benoît du Mans (FR)

191 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 3: Hôtel Desportes de Linières

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The Hôtel Desportes de Linières, or Hôtel Belin de Béru, is a private mansion located in the city of Le Mans at 9 rue des Boucheries in the Halles district.

Wikipedia: Hôtel Desportes de Linières (FR)

308 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 4: Mairie du Mans

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The Collegiate Church of Saint-Pierre-la-Cour is a former collegiate church located in the city of Le Mans. This is the former church dedicated to the Counts of Maine whose palace was adjacent. Built like the cathedral straddling the Gallo-Roman wall, it is attested as early as the High Middle Ages. Initially a simple chapel, it was endowed with a chapter of canons by Hugh I, who was also the first count to consider St. Peter's as his personal chapel. The collegiate church then benefited from the rise of the county dynasty, and Count Elijah I had it rebuilt at the end of the eleventh century. Until the Revolution, it contained the relics of Scholastica, the patron saint of Le Mans, who was invoked in particular against fires. Henry II of England restored the collegiate church in the 12th century, but it was the addition of the monumental two-storey chevet in the 13th century by Charles II of Anjou that gave the building its imposing stature.

Wikipedia: Collégiale Saint-Pierre-la-Cour (FR)

47 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 5: Escalier des Ponts Neufs

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The Pont-Neufs staircase is a staircase located in the French town of Le Mans in the Sarthe department and the Pays de la Loire region.

Wikipedia: Escalier des Pont-Neufs (FR)

79 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 6: Hôtel de Vignolles

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The Hôtel de Vignolles is located in Old Mans, Place Saint-Pierre. It was built in 1549 by Jean de Vignolles. The hotel was never finished. Its architecture is of a local Gothic style. Its circulation axis is resolutely vertical due to its transition architecture. The hotel is part of a particular position in the city, bringing a revival to the traditional 15th century party. The hotel is widely marked by the stately architecture of Haut-Maine, however. However, it attests to similarities in the roots of rural and urban seigniorial residences. If its construction is not, by definition, luxurious; Its spreading on the ground is monumental compared to the other hotels built mainly in height, within the Old Mans. Its particular architecture situates it halfway between Parisian architecture and Loire architecture, such as the position of the city and its natural attractions on the map of France. There is no doubt that Vignolles was particularly attentive to the effect produced on the visitor. First, he wanted to bring more Parisianism to Le Mans with its external architecture. Then he took into account the visitor's approach. The goal was certainly to impress, flatter and dominate all the fine flower of regional Protestantism and in particular Saumur Protestantism. The Hôtel de Vignolles is the typical example of the National Hotel National which will be built in Paris as elsewhere in France until the middle of the 17th century. Property of the city of Le Mans since 1926, the hotel is partially classified as historic monuments in 1946. Even today, the restorations continue, a division in two of the hotel in 1799 having deeply marked or even disfigured its original beauty .

Wikipedia: Hôtel de Vignolles (FR)

139 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 7: Enceinte romaine

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The Gallo-Roman wall of Le Mans, also called the Roman wall of Le Mans, in the city formerly called Vindinum or Vindunum, capital of the Gallic people of the Aulerci Cenomans, was built during the Late Roman Empire, at a time long assumed to be the end of the third century but which more recent studies now place at the beginning of the fourth century.

Wikipedia: Enceinte romaine du Mans (FR)

89 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 8: Hôtel Richer de la Jousserie

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This table presents the list of all the historical monuments classified or registered in the city of Le Mans, Sarthe, in France.

Wikipedia: Liste des monuments historiques du Mans (FR)

198 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 9: Palais du Grabatoire

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The Palais du Grabatoire is the current episcopal residence of the bishop of Le Mans. It is a former canonical palace built in the first half of the sixteenth century for Jean de Couthardy. The palace is located in the Cité Plantagenet district, the historic heart of Le Mans. The building faces the west door of St. Julian's Cathedral, Place du Cardinal Grente. Its name has been commonly reduced to Grabatoire or the Hôtel du Grabatoire. Its surface is of an unusual size. Very few documents, books or magazines from Le Mans have retraced the history of the building. It is one of the city's most underrated landmarks. The Grabatoire has been listed as a historical monument since 1927.

Wikipedia: Palais du Grabatoire (FR)

131 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 10: Saint Julian Cathedral

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Le Mans Cathedral is a Catholic church situated in Le Mans, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Julian of Le Mans, the city's first bishop, who established Christianity in the area around the beginning of the 4th century. Its construction dated from the 6th through the 15th century, culminating in 1430 and it features many French Gothic elements.

Wikipedia: Le Mans Cathedral (EN)

116 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 11: Saint Julian stone

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The Saint-Julien stone, is a menhir carved in pink sandstone with a height of 4.55 meters, located in Le Mans, in France.

Wikipedia: Pierre Saint-Julien (FR)

357 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 12: Musée Jean-Claude-Boulard / Carré Plantagenêt

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Musée Jean-Claude-Boulard / Carré Plantagenêt

The Maine Museum of Archaeology and History, or officially the Jean-Claude-Boulard Carré Plantagenet Museum, is a museum located in the city of Le Mans, in the Saint-Nicolas district, close to the central sector. Completely restored and refurbished by architect Bernard Althabegoity, it was officially inaugurated on June 19, 2009 and was opened to the public the following day.

Wikipedia: Musée d'archéologie et d'histoire du Mans (FR), Website

841 meters / 10 minutes

Sight 13: Centre culturel « Les Quinconces - L'Espal »

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The Municipal Theatre of Le Mans, or Théâtre des Jacobins, is a theatre that has been present, in various forms, since 1842.

Wikipedia: Théâtre municipal du Mans (FR)

210 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 14: Paul Henri Balluet d'Estournelles de Constant

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Paul Henri Balluet d'Estournelles de Constant

Paul Henri Benjamin Balluet d'Estournelles de Constant, Baron de Constant de Rebecque, was a French diplomat and politician, advocate of international arbitration and winner of the 1909 Nobel Prize for Peace.

Wikipedia: Paul Henri Balluet d'Estournelles de Constant (EN)

352 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 15: Musée de Tessé

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Musée de Tessé photo par J.-F. Gaulon statue par Ernest Christophe (1827-1892) / CC BY 3.0

The Tessé museum is the Museum of Fine Arts in the city of Le Mans in France. It offers many guided tours on various themes and is located on the sidelines of the natural frame of the quinconces of the Jacobins and the Park of Tessé.

Wikipedia: Musée de Tessé (FR), Website

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Disclaimer Please be aware of your surroundings and do not enter private property. We are not liable for any damages that occur during the tours.

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