La Flèche
| La Flèche | |
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 La Flèche
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Location within Pays de la Loire region
La Flèche
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| Coordinates: 47°41′45″N 0°04′29″W / 47.6959°N 0.0747°WCoordinates: 47°41′45″N 0°04′29″W / 47.6959°N 0.0747°W | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Pays de la Loire |
| Department | Sarthe |
| Arrondissement | La Flèche |
| Canton | La Flèche |
| Intercommunality | Pays Fléchoi |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2008–2014) | Guy-Michel Chauveau |
| Area1 | 74.21 km2 (28.65 sq mi) |
| Population (2006)2 | 16,428 |
| • Density | 220/km2 (570/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 72154 / 72200 |
| Elevation | 23–103 m (75–338 ft) (avg. 33 m or 108 ft) |
| Website | www.ville-lafleche.fr |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
La Flèche (French pronunciation: [laflɛʃ]) is a town and commune in the French department of Sarthe, in the Pays de la Loire region in the Loire Valley. It is the sub-prefecture of the South-Sarthe, the chief district and the chief city of a canton, and the second most populous city of the department. The city is part of the Community of communes of the Pays La Flèche. The inhabitants of the town are called the La Flèchois. It is classified as a country of art and history.
The Prytanée National Militaire is located in La Flèche.
La Flèche is located on the Loir River and is also on the Greenwich Meridian. It is located halfway between Le Mans (45 km) and Angers.
The origin of the name La Flèche is uncertain; the word flèche means "arrow" in French. Historian Jacques Termeau, in La Flèche Book No. 9, p. 5-11, has documented several hypotheses which most likely are related to the ancient Latin name Fixa meaning "stuck", that is to say "rock stuck in the ground". In fact La Flèche was a city situated on the border of Maine and Anjou. An ancient megalith boundary would have given this the name Fixa that can be found in early manuscripts in full as Fixa andegavorum, often translated later as La Flèche in Anjou, but more precisely meaning the boundary of Anjou.
In the Middle Ages, La Flèche was a parish of the Diocese of Angers and as such formed an integral part of the province of Anjou and more specifically the Upper Anjou, also called Maine Angevine.
In 1343, salt became a state monopoly by order of King Philip VI of Valois, who established the Gabelle, the tax on salt. The Anjou was among the regions of "high salt tax" and contained sixteen special tribunals or "salt warehouses", including La Fleche.
La Flèche was at the head of Angevine seneschalship under the Old Regime: the Seneschal of La Flèche was dependent on the principal Seneschal of Angers.
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Wikipedia