Streets squares and districts to visit Le Mans

In 2002, Old Mans became La Cité Plantagenet. The house of the Red Pillar, the House of the Green Pillar, the House of the two Friends, the Maison Saint-Paul, the Maison de l'Annunciation, the House of the Drapier, the House suspended… Many are those houses which marked the path of the walk in the heart of the city. Exploring the pavés of the old town allows you to discover a unique heritage of incomparable charm: winding streets, cobbled stairs, typical houses, special hotels, small squares, churches… The Gallo-Roman enclosure, perfectly preserved, stretches over 1300 metres, dotted with eleven towers. It is made of colored stones forming geometric drawings. The cathedral of the cathedral is the best preserved from the ancient Roman Empire after those of Rome and Byzantium.

In the heart of the city, you will find the Walk of Fame of the Le Mans winners, known here as the "Drivers' Footprints". At the end of each race, the winners place their prints in plaster. A bronze plaque is then cast into the ground in the streets of the neighborhood and the following year the inauguration of this new plaque takes place the day before the race. Since 1991, among the legends: Jacky Ickx, Henry Pescarolo and, of course, the comic book hero Michel Vaillant. In total, more than 45 plaques have been cast around the Place de la République and in the streets of the hypercentre. A flash-code offers information on the race and its winners. Today only 3 plaques are visible due to renovation works. They should be back in 2023.

The Place de la Sirène is an important place in the center of the city of Le Mans. It is located north of Saint-Nicolas district. Its geographical position makes it the last place in the neighborhood before leaving the ancient Faubourg Saint-Nicolas and traveling through the old bridge door, on Saint Michel Square. The square was fully occupied and animated in the nineteenth century and at the turn of the twentieth century before other major axes and squares took over popular, such as the Place de la République or the place des Jacobins. It is for the same reason that the neighborhood - and the place included - is mainly pedestrian. The statue of siren, which is actually a bas-relief, marks the overseas expansion of the trade of this so-called etamine that Jean Véron invented in the eighteenth century. Bas-relief has been inscribed at Historic Monuments since 1931. In the center of the square is the sculpture of Claude Ribot entitled «Sirens», dating back to 1991.