La Ferté-Macé

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

La Ferté-Macé
Commune
L'Avenue Thiers; l'église Notre-Dame (church of Our Lady)
Coat of arms
Location of La Ferté-Macé
La Ferté-Macé
La Ferté-Macé
Coordinates: 48°35′36″N 0°21′22″W
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentOrne
ArrondissementArgentan
CantonLa Ferté-Macé, Magny-le-Désert
IntercommunalityLa Ferté-Saint-Michel
Government
 • Mayor (2014-2020) Jacques Dalmont
Area
1
31.86 km2 (12.30 sq mi)
Population
 (2016-01-01)[1]
5,810
 • Density180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Fertois, Fertoises
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
61168 /61600
Elevation165–203 m (541–666 ft)
Websitehttp://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.

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.[2] 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.[3]

Twin towns

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

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2016". INSEE. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  2. The Enormous Room, Gutenberg Project
  3. Arrêté préfectoral, 12 January 2016 (in French)
  4. Ludlow Town Council Ludlow's Twin Towns



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