Cité Plantagenêt — Le Mans Medieval Quarter

The Cité Plantagenêt is the medieval walled quarter of Le Mans in the Sarthe department of Pays de la Loire, enclosed by a remarkably complete circuit of Gallo-Roman and medieval walls rising above the left bank of the Sarthe River. The walls themselves, built in the third and fourth centuries AD using alternating bands of stone and brick in the characteristic opus mixtum style of late Roman construction, are among the longest and best-preserved Roman fortifications in France — running approximately 1.3 kilometres and incorporating the foundations of fourteen original towers. The walled enclosure contains a dense neighbourhood of medieval and Renaissance townhouses, many with exposed timber framing and projecting upper storeys, as well as the Cathedral Saint-Julien — a Gothic and Romanesque structure of great complexity with one of the finest apse window compositions in France and a celebrated twelfth-century Romanesque south porch. The winding stone-set streets of the Cité rise steeply from the river plain to the cathedral precinct. The Place du Hallai and Place Saint-Michel host a Saturday morning market that has been held in the district for centuries. The Cité Plantagenêt is compact and best explored on foot; most of the historic centre is pedestrianised. The Roman walls can be walked along their exterior at river level, offering the best view of the opus mixtum technique and the medieval towers added above them. Explanatory panels installed on the main streets provide historical context in French and English. The neighbourhood takes its name from the Plantagenet dynasty, whose hereditary territories included Le Mans from the eleventh century.