Jet d’Eau Fountain

The Jet d'eau fountain, in Le Mans

The Jet d'eau fountain is an elegant fountain set at the foot of the St. Julian's Cathedral, a marker of the urban history of Le Mans. The Le Mans audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this fountain of modernity, inaugurated in 1854 with the arrival of the railway, on the site of a former medieval ditch filled in the nineteenth century, witness of the transformation of the city.

The fountain of modernity

Here you are in front of the Jet d'eau fountain, set like a stage at the foot of the St. Julian's Cathedral. If it attracts the gaze by its elegance and the murmur of its water, this fountain is also an important marker of the urban history of Le Mans. It was inaugurated in 1854, at a time when the city was transforming deeply with the arrival of the railway. It is in a way a fountain of modernity, designed to embellish the city centre and celebrate the dynamism of a city in full rise. At that period, the authorities led important works of development, and the square where you are changed its face. Before this fountain, there was here a great void: a deep medieval ditch, dug in the Middle Ages to defend the access to the cathedral and being an integral part of the fortifications of the city. Become useless, then unhealthy, this ditch was filled in the nineteenth century to make way for an open and luminous space. The fountain, with its basin and its springing jet, came to symbolise this nascent modernity and the passage from a medieval city, withdrawn behind its ramparts, to a modern city, open and embellished. Today, it offers a pleasant contrast between the living water and the old stone of the cathedral that overlooks it, and constitutes an appreciated place of break. An elegant fountain and a symbol of modernity, the Jet d'eau fountain is a fine stop of the discovery of Le Mans.

What to see

Here you admire an elegant fountain set at the foot of the St. Julian's Cathedral, inaugurated in 1854 with the arrival of the railway, symbol of the modernity of Le Mans; it rises on the site of a deep medieval ditch, former element of the fortifications of the cathedral, filled in the nineteenth century, and offers a fine contrast between the living water and the old stone. The Jet d'eau fountain is a marker of the history of Le Mans. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Jet d'eau fountain lies at the foot of the St. Julian's Cathedral, in old Le Mans, reachable on foot. It is a monument in free access in the public space, pleasant to discover during a walk in the Plantagenet City.

What does the Jet d'eau fountain symbolise in Le Mans?

It symbolises the modernity of Le Mans: inaugurated in 1854 with the arrival of the railway, it was designed to embellish the city centre in full rise; it rises on the site of a deep medieval ditch, former defensive element of the cathedral filled in the nineteenth century, marking the passage from a fortified city to an open and embellished city.

Where is the Jet d'eau fountain in Le Mans?

At the foot of the St. Julian's Cathedral, in old Le Mans, in France.