Every design for Le Mans

Do you hear engines when someone says Le Mans? Since 1923 the city has hosted the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's oldest active endurance race, and each June the Manceaux and Mancelles share their town with the crowds. Yet the city that stands where the Huisne meets the Sarthe has a far older story to tell.

The Cathédrale Saint-Julien rises over the Cité Plantagenêt, an old quarter wrapped in one of the most complete circuits of Gallo-Roman city walls to survive anywhere. Geoffrey of Anjou married Matilda of England in that cathedral, and their son Henry II, king of England, was born in the town. Beyond the centre, the Abbaye Royale de l'Épau and the Musée de Tessé add quieter chapters.

To wear Le Mans is to carry both: the roar of the circuit and the stone of Saint-Julien, standing above the river for centuries before the first car went by.