Bellême () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in northwestern France.INSEE commune file
/ref> The musicologist

Guillaume André Villoteau Guillaume André Villoteau (19 September 1759 in Bellême – 27 April 1839 in Tours) was a French musicologist. Biography An ambulant musician, engaged in the dragons, Villoteau then integrated the mastery of Notre Dame de Paris on the eve of ...

(1759–1839) was born in Bellême, as was

Aristide Boucicaut Aristide Boucicaut (; July 14, 1810 – December 26, 1877) was a French entrepreneur who created '' Le Bon Marché'', the first modern department store. Background Born in Bellême, in the Orne department on 14 July 1810, Boucicaut was the ...

(1810-1877), owner of ''Le'' ''Bon Marché'', the world's first department store''.'' This town is possibly the origin of the English and French surname Bellamy''.

Location

At the heart of the Parc Naturel Régional du Perche, in the Orne Department, Bellême is on a hill that dominates the

Perche Perche () (French: ''le Perche'') is a former province of France, known historically for its forests and, for the past two centuries, for the Percheron draft horse breed. Until the French Revolution, Perche was bounded by four ancient territorie ...

area.

Population

Heraldry

Sights

* Church of Saint-Sauveur 15th century, 16th century, rebuilt between 1675 and 1710. *

Crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

of the Saint-Santin Chapel, dating from the tenth century. * Château gatehouse 15th century, and moat. * Remains of the ramparts, bearing a plaque commemorating the capture of the château and the town by King Saint Louis and his mother,

Blanche of Castile Blanche of Castile ( es, Blanca de Castilla; 4 March 1188 – 27 November 1252) was Queen of France by marriage to Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX: during his minority from 1226 until 1234, and during ...

in 1229. * 17th century and eighteenth century houses. * 17th century Hôtel de ville. *

Sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

s on rue du Château, place de la République and place Liègeard.

Landscape

* The town is built around the crest of a natural bowl, in which sits an outdoor lido (swimming pool), moto-cross circuit, stables and an expansive 18-hole golf course with adjacent hotel and holiday apartments.

Events

* Les Mycologiades internationales : Annual international wild mushroom festival.

International relations

Bellême is twinned with: *

Goring-on-Thames Goring-on-Thames (or Goring) is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about south of Wallingford and northwest of Reading. It had a population of 3,187 in the 2011 census, put at 3,335 in 2019. Gorin ...

since 1979. *

Stühlingen Stühlingen is a town in the Waldshut district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the border with Switzerland, with a border crossing to the village of Oberwiesen in Schleitheim municipality, 15 km northwest of Schaffhausen to ...

since 1980.

Sports

* The town's football club, FC Pays Bellêmois, compete in the Ligue de Football Basse-Normandie and the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and professional ...

, playing their home games at the town's Terrain Intercommunal. * Moto Club Bellêmois hosts motocross events that welcome an international field of competitors.