Le Mans The Cathedral of Saint-Julien

The cathedral of Le Mans joins a Romanesque nave of the eleventh and twelfth centuries to a Gothic choir of the thirteenth, among the largest built in its time. It is dedicated to Saint Julian, first bishop of the city, and its nave keeps a window of the Ascension made in the twelfth century, among the oldest stained glass still in place.

The old town around it, the Cité Plantagenêt, is enclosed by Roman walls, now dated to the early fourth century. Geoffrey Plantagenet married Matilda of England in the cathedral in 1128, and their son Henry II, first of the Plantagenet kings of England, was born in Le Mans in 1133.

• The choirIts double ambulatory and thirteenth-century windows.
• The Ascension windowIn the nave, of the twelfth century.
• The Cité PlantagenêtMedieval streets inside the Roman walls.

• Via GregorianaThe Gregorian Way, six daysDay IV, Le Mans

About an hour by high-speed train from the Gare Montparnasse in Paris.

• SolesmesThe Abbey of Saint-Pierre of Solesmes, about 25 miles as the crow flies
• AlençonThe Birthplace of Saint Thérèse, about 30 miles as the crow flies
• MontligeonThe Shrine of Our Lady of Montligeon, about 36 miles as the crow flies
• ToursThe Basilica of Saint Martin, about 48 miles as the crow flies