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| 132,181 | 143,246 | 152,285 | 147,697 | 145,502 | 146,105 |141,432}} | 132,181 | 143,246 | 152,285 | 147,697 | 145,502 | 146,105 |141,432}}
<small>source : http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/docs_ffc/psdc.htm <small>source : http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/docs_ffc/psdc.htm</small>


==Sport== ==Sport==

Revision as of 21:49, 7 April 2007

For the Le Mans automobile race see the 24 Hours of Le Mans article
Place in France
Le Mans
Location of
CountryFrance
ArrondissementLe Mans
CantonChief town of 9 cantons
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code72181 /

Le Mans (pronounced /lə mɑ̃/ in French) is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Long the capital of the province of Maine, it is today the préfecture (capital) of the Sarthe département. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles.

History

First mentioned by Ptolemy (Geography 2.8.8), the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, a client tribe of the Aedui. Le Mans is also indentified as the town known as Civitas Cenomanorum (City of the Cenomani). Their city lay in the territory of the 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, this allowed William the Conqueror 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 honored 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). Template:Demography 7col 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

  • Le Mans Sarthe Basket

Football (Soccer)

Births

Le Mans was the birthplace of:

Sister Cities

Others

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

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

External links

France Prefectures of the departments of France
Overseas departments
Categories: