La Ferté-Macé

La Ferté-Macé
Commune
L'Avenue Thiers; l'église Notre-Dame (church of Our Lady)

Coat of arms
La Ferté-Macé
Location within Normandy region
La Ferté-Macé
Coordinates: 48°35′36″N 0°21′22″W / 48.5933°N 0.3561°W / 48.5933; -0.3561Coordinates: 48°35′36″N 0°21′22″W / 48.5933°N 0.3561°W / 48.5933; -0.3561
Country France
Region Normandy
Department Orne
Arrondissement Argentan
Canton La Ferté-Macé, Magny-le-Désert
Intercommunality La Ferté-Saint-Michel
Government
 • Mayor (2014-2020) Jacques Dalmont
Area1 31.86 km2 (12.30 sq mi)
Population (2013)2 5,797
 • Density 180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Fertois, Fertoises
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code 61168 /61600
Elevation 165–203 m (541–666 ft)
Website http://www.lafertemace.fr

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

La Ferté-Macé is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France, in the region of Normandy.

History

During the First World War, the village housed a military detention camp, the Dépôt de Triage. Among others, the American poet E. E. Cummings and his friend William Slater Brown, then volunteers in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps in France, were held there between September 21, 1917 and December 19 of the same year, on charges of "espionage". This was based on their having expressed anti war opinions. Cummings' experiences in the camp at La Ferté-Mace were the basis for his novel, The Enormous Room.[1] The three-building complex, with a church and two classroom buildings, had previously served as a seminary and lycée. The prisoners were kept on the top floor of the largest building, which was open and spanned most of the floor.

On 12 January 2016, the former commune Antoigny was merged into La Ferté-Macé.[2]

Twin towns

Heraldry

 The arms of La Ferté-Macé are blazoned :
Gules, a beehive and a shuttle bendwise sinister Or.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Enormous Room, Gutenberg Project
  2. ↑ Arrêté préfectoral, 12 January 2016 (in French)
  3. ↑ Ludlow Town Council Ludlow's Twin Towns


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