Le Mans, an important town in Roman times, the see of a bishop since the fourth C., capital of the medieval County of Maine and now chief town of the département of Sarthe, lies half way between Paris and Nantes on both banks of the Sarthe. A smaller river, the Huisne, flows into the Sarthe on the southern outskirts of the town. To the south of Le Mans is the car-racing circuit used in the famous 24-hour race, the "24 Heures du Mans".
The Musée de Tessé is housed in the former Bishop's Palace, and displays a collection of paintings. Of particular note in the museum is a 12th C panel from the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet.
In Le Mans, northwest of the Place de la République, on a hill above the Sarthe, is the old town, with many ancient houses. The main street is the Grande Rue, at No. 71 of which is the Maison d'Adam et d'Eve, a handsome Renaissance house of 1525.
Northeast of this is the old-world Rue de la Reine Bérengère, at No. 13 of which (on right) is the Maison de la Reine Bérengère (1440-1515), now occupied by a museum of ethnography and regional history.
The central feature of Le Mans is the large Place de la République, on the west side of which are the Palais de Justice (Law Courts), in an old monastic building, and the church of the Visitation (1730), with a Baroque interior.
In Le Mans, behind the choir of the cathedral is the spacious on the east side of which, occupying the site of a Gallo-Roman amphitheater, is the theater, built in 1842 (with a modern extension). Beyond this is the pleasant Promenade des Jacobins.
In Le Mans, opposite the west end of the cathedral is the Hôtel du Grabatoire (1530). To the west, near Rues Denfert-Rochereau, St-Hilaire and de-la-Porte-Ste-Anne, which run round the west side of the old town, are remains of the Gallo-Roman town walls, with towers.
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Musée de Tessé
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