Le Mans (pronounced /lÉ™ 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.
SightsLe 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.
DemographicsAt 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).
source : http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/docs_ffc/psdc.htm
Sport MotorsportThe 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. 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.
BasketballLe Mans was the birthplace of:
The culinary specialty of Le Mans is rillettes, a shredded pork paté.
Near Le Mans at Mayet there is one of the tallest radio masts in France (height: 342 metres).
