Parc de Tesse

In the heart of Le Mans, next to the Quinconces and wrapping around the Tessé Museum (Museum of Fine Arts), the Parc de Tessé is an English-style garden planted with remarkable trees, a few steps from the Cité Plantagenêt and the Saint-Julien cathedral. Its winding paths lead to a pond where children sail their wooden boats, while abundant flower beds punctuate the walk. Several statues also line the route.

Since June 2009, a giant hourglass, the work of sculptor Jean-Bernard Métais, has stood in the center of the pond: its sixty nozzles letting the sand run are controlled by a computer program that can be changed endlessly, offering a show that changes with the seasons. The park can be reached via avenue de Paderborn, allée André Bouton or rue du Capitaine Floch.

A green oasis in the city center, the Parc de Tessé is a shaded pause between two heritage visits, whether for a family stroll or a quiet moment near the museum.

A bit of history

In 1906, Mayor Arsène Le Feuvre, himself a painter, connected the existing English-style garden to the Parc de Tessé, creating a landscape continuity at the foot of the museum. In 1926, the whole site was entirely redesigned in a landscape style, with the creation of an oval pond at the center of the park, which remains the structuring element of the walk today.

More recently, in June 2009, the installation of Jean-Bernard Métais's giant hourglass in this pond gave the park a new contemporary attraction, blending 20th-century landscape heritage with present-day artistic creation.