Within the Cité Plantagenêt, protected by its walls

At Place des Jacobins, cross Avenue de Paterborn to reach Place du Jet d'Eau. Start at the foot of the stairs by the Fontaine des Jacobins (built in 1853).

(S/E) Leave the stairs on your left and walk along the bishop's enclosure surrounding the chevet of the cathedral until you reach Rue Robert Triger. You will pass by the cathedral garden where a coin dating from the Republic, more than two centuries before Christ, was found, along with blocks of stone weighing up to 600 kg, some of which came from the cathedral itself.

Turn left onto Rue Robert Tringer and then left again onto the car park at Place du Cardinal-Grente before Place Saint-Vincent. Don't forget to turn left once you reach Rue du Château in the public garden, where you will see cannonballs fired at the town during the Hundred Years' War.

At No. 3 Place du Cardinal-Grente is the Maison du Pèlerin (Pilgrim's House). The proliferation of scallop shells on the lintel of the upper window and the roof ridge refers to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela undertaken by its owner, Jean de Couthardy, and gives the building its name. To its left, at numbers 1 and 2 Place du Cardinal-Grente, you will see the former "Grabatoire", which housed disabled priests and has been the seat of the Bishopric of Le Mans since 1907. In the neighbourhood below the cathedral, houses owned by the bishopric housed courtesans, and No. 309 in this canonical neighbourhood has a statuette of a bishop, but as there is no water next to it, it cannot be Saint-Julien.

Opposite, above the cathedral door, you can see a red fleur-de-lis in honour of King Charles VI, who went mad in the forest of Le Mans in 1392.

Opposite the Pans-de-Gorron staircase, leaning against the corner of the cathedral, stands a menhir. This oldest relic is the survivor of a group of stones (sabalite sandstone) erected more than 7,000 years ago. Probably originating from Sargé, it is the pagan symbol of a fertility cult. So, if you want to have many children, you must make a wish while touching its navel. Standing 4.55 metres tall, the menhir was saved by Saint Julian in the 4th century, who dedicated it to the cult of virginity. During the evangelisation of Maine, it was topped with a cross, which has since disappeared. Until the 18th century, a flat stone, the remains of a dolmen known as "la pierre au lait" (the milk stone), stood a stone's throw from the menhir.

Continue straight ahead along Rue des Chanoines, where you will see Maison Saint-Paul, also known as "Maison à la Tourelle", at number 27, as well as a canonical residence, Hôtel Saint-Jacques, at number 26.

Go down the Escaliers du Tunnel to the lower level (you will be overlooking Rue Wilbur Wright) to reach Rue des Chapelains on the right. During the construction of the tunnel, the Gallic wall that surrounded the city when it was the capital of the Aulerques Cenomani was discovered on both sides. Go down Rue des Pans de Gorron. At the bottom, at the corner of the wall, the arched hole is an old bread oven.

Turn left to leave the historic city via the Poterne de Gourdaine and walk along Quai Louis Blanc, which borders the Roman wall on one side and the Sarthe river on the other. You will pass the Tour des Pans de Gorron, the Tour Madeleine and the site of the destroyed Tour Hueau (the rounded trace on the ground between two towers of the wall) and then the Tunnel. At this point, at the Tunnel postern gate, you will notice a strange feature: a staircase in front of the wall. It leads to the "Fontaine de l'Hopitau" fountain, which is supplied by the Roman aqueduct of Fontenelles de Sargé. It was once located on Place de l'Hopitau, in the centre of a neighbourhood that was demolished in the 1970s to clear the Roman wall.

(1) Facing the Tunnel, turn your head towards the Sarthe. This bridge and the "X" bridge next to it were destroyed in the early hours of 8 August 1944 by the German army fleeing during the Liberation of Le Mans. The blast shattered the stained-glass windows of the Église du Pré (first a monastery for men, then the Abbey of Saint-Julien-du-Pré, the supposed site of the tomb of Saint Julien,^{the first} bishop of Le Mans), with the exception of the 15th-century window donated by Isabeau d'Hauteville, Abbess of Le Pré. She is depicted kneeling before Saint Julien, who is placing his hand on her shoulder while performing the miracle of the fountain. Saint Julien is said to have evangelised the city in the 4th century by striking the ground with a stick and causing a spring to gush forth at the Place de l'Éperon.

Once you have crossed Rue Wilbur Wright, continue straight ahead until you reach the Escalier de la Grande Poterne staircase on your left. As you pass by, you will notice the "trous de boulins" (holes in which the scaffolding for the construction of the enclosure was supported), the Tour de Tucé, the Tour des Ardents followed by the Maison du Mouton and the arcades of an old medieval barn.

Climb the Grande Poterne staircase. At the top, turn right onto Rue de la Verrerie and climb the Petite Poterne staircase on your left. At the top of the staircase, facing you, a few centimetres above the ground, you will see a small cast iron coat of arms bearing numbers. This is the height above sea level. You will also find the Hôtel d'Argouges. Turn right and walk up Rue Saint-Pavin de la Cité to reach Grande Rue.

At the intersection, on your right, at No. 97 Grande Rue, there is a sundial installed by Claude Chappe on the wall of the Hôtel Clairaunay. Further on, at No. 105, is the Legras du Luart mansion.

Walk down Grande Rue for a few metres to the Hôtel de Nepveu de Rouillon, an 18th-century residence (1768) that is very classic for its time, featuring a staircase in the same style and now home to the Compagnons du Devoir. On the left, take Rue Godart and pass the wooden gatehouse. Before the staircase, turn left into Rue Saint-Flaceau, where the locks are shaped like hearts. Walk along the Fossés Saint-Pierre enclosure, which leads to the Saint-Pierre-la-Cour Collegiate Church.

(2) You will come out onto Place Saint-Pierre, where you will find Le Mans Town Hall, built on the foundations of the former Palace of the Counts of Maine. Above the large gate is the city's coat of arms: a key, four candlesticks and three fleurs-de-lis. Reach Avenue de Rostov-sur-le-Don via the Escalier des Ponts-Neufs staircase on your right. On your left, below, you will see a statue by Claude Ribot depicting Zeus abducting Leda.

Turn left and walk up Rue de la Comédie to Place du Hallai. If you turn around, you will see a blocked-up window on the wall of the former Palace of the Counts of Maine. Similarly, at No. 7 Place du Hallai, you will see the Maison du Pilier aux Lumières. Collapsed at the beginning of the Second World War, it was rebuilt identically by the Guilbert couple. Cross Place du Hallai and walk up the small Rue du Pilier Rouge. This is where the Maison du Pilier Rouge stands opposite the Maison du Pilier Vert.

(3) Turn left and continue along Grande Rue, where you will notice numerous raised stones at the foot of some houses. These were used to protect the facades of houses from passing carts. At No. 69 Grande Rue, only the half-timbered facade remains, as the dilapidated house has been demolished.

You will recognise the house of Adam and Eve, also known as the Astrologer's House, between numbers 69 and 75, by the bas-relief above the small entrance door, where the central medallion depicts Eve offering Adam an apple on the end of her stick (in fact, it is Bacchus and Ariadne). Built in 1520, the house is famous for having been the residence of Jean de l'Épine, physician to the Queen of Navarre.

At the intersection of Grande Rue and Rue Saint-Honoré is the Maison du Pilier aux Clefs. Opposite it is the narrow passageway of the Cour d'Assé, which leads to Rue Saint-Pavin de la Cité.

At the end of Rue Saint-Pavin de la Cité, you will see the suspended house on your right, immortalised by Robert Doisneau with a little girl and her big teddy bear in the foreground. Turn left and go down Rue du Bouquet. Opposite you is the gate of the Hôtel de Vaux, where in the film "Cyrano de Bergerac", the character is the victim of an accident that costs him his life. Next to the Hôtel de Vaux, the Hôtel Denisot was home to the artist Nicolas Denisot, a friend of Ronsard.

Continue your walk to the right on Rue de Vaux and you will find the Escalier de la Pierre de Tucé on your right. Before the^first step of this staircase, in front of which you are passing, you will see a large stone on the ground that was used to mark the boundaries of ancient fiefdoms in the Middle Ages. Then climb the Escalier du Tunnel.

(3) Pass Square Dubois above the Tunnel and continue along Rue de la Reine Bérangère to Place Saint-Michel. As you pass, admire: nos. 18-20 (Maison des Deux Amis) and nos. 7-9-11 (Musée de la Reine Bérengère, consisting of the Maison du Drapier, the Maison de l'Avé-Maria and the Maison de la Reine Bérengère).

Once you reach Place Saint-Michel, admire No. 1, the Maison de Scarron, whose wife, Mme de Maintenon, is known for having been the mistress and then wife of Louis XIV.

Then enter the cathedral through the royal porch, so called because Christ stands there in majesty. It was built on the south side in line with the Grande Rue (Rue de la Reine Bérengère is an extension of the Grande Rue), the backbone of the old town, during the reconstruction work carried out after the fire of 1134 because its axis was perpendicular to the old town. Until the 12th century, the entrance was through the large gate on the west façade, opposite the bishop's palace. Before entering through this large side door, don't forget to take a look at the sculpture above the door, which depicts a Norman horseman. The last figure in the outer row on your right, a bearded man seated on a kind of throne, is thought to be Geoffrey Plantagenet.

Walk around the cathedral, following the ambulatory on the left. At the transept, on the left, stands the statue of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians, a masterpiece of Le Mans terracotta. When you are facing the old grabatorium, at the small door on the right, you will see the Saint Julian stained glass window which, according to legend, caused water to gush forth in the city during a great famine. Speaking of stained glass windows, the Ascension window is the oldest stained glass window in its original cathedral. Similarly, in the middle of the stained glass window dedicated to Joan of Arc, the flag bearer of the 117th Infantry Regiment is depicted. This is Maxime, the son of Albert Échivard, who died during the^First World War. He appears in a set of five stained glass windows that he created with Henry Morin and Julien Chappée. In the chapel known as the "Chapel of the Musician Angels", 47 angels are painted under the vaulted ceiling.

End the route by returning to the Jet d'Eau (S/E).

You can reach the starting point (the Jet d'Eau fountain) from Place des Jacobins, where you can park in the underground car park (paying).

The Maison du Pilier Rouge houses the Heritage Services and a public information point.

The main locations of the Plantagenet dynasty's family events are:
- Saint-Julien Cathedral, where Geoffrey married Matilda, their son Henry was baptised, Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine, Geoffrey was buried and Queen Berengaria's funeral was held
- the Palace of the Counts of Maine, the Plantagenet royal palace where Henry II was born and where Queen Berengaria took refuge shortly before her death and lived out her final years.
- On the site of the former Monnoyer printing works, which closed in the 1980s, the Carré Plantagenêt museum houses, among other things, the Plantagenêt enamel. This is a 12th-century champlevé copper plaque from the tomb of Geoffrey V the Fair in Saint-Julien Cathedral. It was removed at the last minute from one of the pillars of the nave by Louis Maulny before the revolutionaries destroyed it by melting down the plaque. After his death, it was found hidden behind a cupboard. To create it, the enamel was first engraved (by lifting the copper with gouges and chisels) according to the desired patterns and then enamelled. The hollowed-out areas were filled with moistened coloured powder and then placed in a 600°C oven for a few minutes. The enamel was fired as many times as necessary (three on average) to fill all the spaces.
- The Abbey of La Piété-Dieu de l'Épau is one of the last Cistercian foundations in France. Based on an architectural style that promotes meditation and spiritual elevation, it was founded by Queen Berengaria of Navarre in 1229. The recumbent statue of Queen Berengaria, sovereign lady of Le Mans, is now in the chapter house, while her husband rests in the royal abbey of Fontevraud. Consecrated in 1234, the abbey church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist. During the Hundred Years' War, in 1365, the people of Le Mans decided to set it on fire because they feared a British invasion. During the French Revolution, it became a farm and the abbey church was converted into a barn. In 1959, the department of Sarthe purchased the site.

Place des Jacobins:
Beneath Place des Jacobins lies the ancient valley of Iaac. Its name comes from the Jacobins, members of the large Dominican religious order who built a convent around 1219 to the east of the current square. This convent and that of the Cordeliers, both of which existed under the Ancien Régime, were razed during the French Revolution in 1808. Beneath it, five Vendée mass graves containing around sixty bodies have been discovered to date. These are the dead from the Battle of Le Mans, which took place on the night of 12-13 December 1793 as the Vendéens were returning from the "Virée de Galerne". Among these mass graves, the skeletons of one are neatly arranged with the remains of their clothing, while in a second, the bodies of adults and adolescents are buried naked, jumbled together, mainly on their stomachs, with lime.

The Gallo-Roman enclosure:
Le Mans was also nicknamed the "red city" in the 17th century because of the distinctive colour of its Gallo-Roman wall, part of which has been preserved and dates from the end of the 3rd century (280-295). It was built under Diocletian to assert imperial power, using red bricks bound with pink mortar, giving it its dominant colour: carmine red. Along with Rome and Byzantium (Istanbul), it is the best-preserved wall in the entire former Roman Empire. With 26 towers and 11 gates, it forms an irregular quadrilateral 450 metres long and 200 metres wide (perimeter of 1,300 metres). Twelve towers, one gate and three posterns are still visible, particularly on the banks of the Sarthe.

The Grabatoire:
This building with its two natural turrets with cut-off corners was built in 1520 by Jean de Couthardy. A national asset, it was the former residence of the governor of Maine. It welcomed Marie de Médicis and the young Louis XIII during their visit to Le Mans in 1614.

The Jacobins Tunnel:
The Jacobins Tunnel is a trench dug through the centre of the Vieux Mans hill. It was created in 1873 by Eugène Caillaux.

Saint-Pierre-la-Cour Collegiate Church:
Saint-Pierre-la-Cour Collegiate Church was originally a church built within the city walls in the 10th century, following the Norman invasions of the 9th century. It was rebuilt by Henry II Plantagenet in 1175 before being enlarged again in 1267 with the support of Charles III of Anjou. It was the former seigneurial chapel of the Counts of Maine, forming part of the count's and king's palatial complex. The lower chapel (the only chapel that remains) housed the shrine of Saint Scholastica, patron saint of Le Mans. In 1354, during the Hundred Years' War, John II the Good (born in 1319 at the Château du Gué-de-Maulny in Le Mans) ordered the creation of moats around the collegiate church, which caused water to seep in and flood it to a height of nearly one metre. The collegiate church was then filled with earth and sand, and openings were made at ground level. When this embankment became unnecessary, it was removed and the doors were left about one metre above the ground, requiring steps to be installed to access them. This is why parishioners called this small part of the building, corresponding to the crypt of the collegiate church, "Notre-Dame-sous-terre" (Our Lady Underground).

The Palace of the Counts of Maine:
The Palace of the Counts of Maine now houses the Town Hall. Only a few Romanesque walls and windows remain from the 11th and 12th centuries. The Great Pillar Room is located in a 15th-century tower, and the current municipal council chamber is built on the remains of ancient latrines. This is where Count Geoffroy V, his son Henri II (born here in 1133) and Queen Bérengère lived after the death of her husband Richard the Lionheart.

The House of the Red Pillar:
According to legend, this is the house of the executioner, who would wipe his hands on this pillar once his task was accomplished: a rope is wrapped around the shaft and on the capital, you can see a skull, a crucifix and a crayfish. In reality, this is impossible because he could not reside in the city due to his impure tasks. In fact, it was the shop of a craftsman who sold canes à soules (the ancestor of croquet and golf). It is one of seven buildings still adorned with a corner pillar, known as a cornier, which served as a sign for shops and provided a reliable means of identification.

The Cour d'Assé:
The Cour d'Assé owes its name to the lords of Assé-le-Riboul who held court here in the Middle Ages. This passage gives an idea of the narrowness of the alleys that wound through medieval towns and helps us to understand the meaning of the words "cut throat" and "pickpocket". This place also preserves the memory of the Vendées massacred in 1793 in Le Mans on their return from the "Virée de Galerne".

The suspended house:
The suspended house or Maison-pont consisted of a room lit by two windows in which an entire family lived. It was built in 1792 on the site of an 11th-century church and narrowly saved in 1977 when the café next door was demolished to make way for social housing.

The Hôtel de Vaux:
Restored in 1993, the Hôtel de Vaux was built by the King's prosecutor Mathurin Queslain in 1543. It was erected on the Gallo-Roman ramparts and its façade alternates between triangular and curvilinear pediments. The painter Hervé Mathé, who acquired the two parts of the mansion in 1906 and 1920, set up his studio there until his death in 1953.
Next to the Hôtel de Vaux, the Hôtel Denisot was home to the artist Nicolas Denisot, a friend of Ronsard.

The House of the Two Friends:
At 18-20 Rue de la Reine Bérengère is the Maison des Deux Amis (House of Two Friends), whose name probably comes from the two figures carved on the central pillar, standing back to back but holding hands. Dating from the 15th century, this half-timbered and cross-braced house was designed by Jean Dampmartin, architect of the cathedral. It is a typical example of a corbelled half-timbered house.

The Maison Scarron:
The Maison Scarron is a 12th-century residence, remodelled in the 16th century. It is flanked by an elegant polygonal turret. The façade overlooking Place Saint-Michel is illuminated by mullioned windows. On the corner cornice, a statuette with a mocking smile (placed under the sign of the jester grimacing on the gable) reminds us that Scarron (a 17th-century burlesque poet, satirical author, but nevertheless canon and cripple) lived the ordeal of his physical monstrosity. As ugly and dwarfish as he was intelligent, he married the young and beautiful Françoise d'Aubigné, better known as Maintenon, the wife of Louis XIV.

The cathedral:
The cathedral is notable for being the longest in the country (130 metres long) and one of the longest to be built (5 centuries). Its initial construction took place between 1060 and 1120. In 1134, it was devastated by a first fire, then a second in 1137. The cathedral still bears the scars of this damage next to the nave (orange colour). The central nave, which was covered in wood, was destroyed, while the stone-covered aisles withstood the fire. It was decided to rebuild the pillars of the nave so that they could support a stone vault with ribbed arches. Once renovated, the cathedral was consecrated in 1158. Subsequently, the 11th-century Romanesque choir was replaced by Gothic architecture. During the Flamboyant Gothic period, the transept was rebuilt (the south side around 1385 and the north side around 1430) to reduce the difference in height between the choir and the rest of the building. To enlarge the choir, in 1217 the King of France, Philip Augustus, authorised the demolition of the Roman wall on which it stood. This led to the creation of the splendid Gothic chevet. As for construction, there could be up to 500 workers on the site in spring and autumn, working six days a week from sunrise to sunset (except Sundays and religious holidays). The trades involved were: mason, mortar maker, porter, labourer, carpenter, stonemason, sculptor, etc. Labourers were paid 4 deniers per day and stonemasons three times as much. However, they were paid by the stone. This is why they left their signature (the mark of the stonemason) on their stone, such as a small hand, for example.
In addition to its connection with the Plantagenet dynasty (the marriage and burial of Geoffrey, the baptism and marriage of Henry, and the funeral of Queen Berengaria), a literary event is linked to Le Mans Cathedral. On 15 March 1543, the funeral of Guillaume du Bellay, general of François I and viceroy of Piedmont, who had died two months earlier, took place at Le Mans Cathedral. His secretary and personal physician Rabelais and Joachim du Bellay (aged 21) may have made the journey, but there is no evidence to suggest this. Like other prominent families of the Renaissance, the Ronsards attended the funeral. Pierre de Ronsard (aged 19) was present, and his father was asked to hold one corner of the funeral shroud. The next day, Pierre de Ronsard received the "petite tonsure" from the Bishop of Le Mans, René du Bellay, in the presence of his secretary Jacques Peletier, known as Peletier du Mans (aged 26). It was undoubtedly following this event that the Pléiade was born.

From this central point in Le Mans, numerous paths are hidden in the underground, which once connected it to other strategic points in the city.

The baths:
A popular social gathering place for citizens, combining relaxation and culture, the Roman baths were in continuous use between 50 and 270 AD. Due to their large size, they were among the largest thermal establishments in Gaul. Located outside the perimeter planned for the fortifications of the new city, they were destroyed during the construction of this enclosure and the stones reused for this purpose. Today, in an archaeological crypt beneath the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, all that remains is the technical part of the baths related to heating and water management: seven rooms covering around 30 square metres with fragments of mosaics made according to the Italian rules of the time by the Aulerci Cenomani people.