L'Aigle

L'Aigle is a commune in the Orne department in Normandy in northwestern France. Before 1961, the commune was known as Laigle. According to Orderic Vitalis, the nest of an eagle (aigle in French) was discovered during the construction of the castle.

The river Risle flows through the commune.

Meteorite
On 26 April 1803 a meteoroid entered the Earth's atmosphere and air burst over L'Aigle.

Points of Interest

 * Musée Juin 44 - The Museum of June 44 has told the story of the Battle of Normandy, since 1953 in L'Aigle.
 * '''Musée De La Météorite De L'aigle - The Museum of the L'Aigle meteorite is dedicated to the 1803 event in L'Aigle when thousands of fragments of a meteorite reached the ground of L'Aigle.
 * Musée des Instruments de musique is a museum located in the town hall, presenting to the public over 90 different types of instruments. The museum opened in 1983, when local musician, Marcel Angot, upon his death bequeathed his collection to the local community.
 * musée Louis Verrière a museum dedicated to the work of local farmer and woodcarver Louis Verrière, works include a replica of the Eiffel Tower and panorama of Lourdes, which took 30,000 hours to complete. The museum opened to the public in 2014.

National heritage sites
The Commune has eight buildings and areas listed as a Monument historique


 * L'Aigle Chateau, A seventeenth-century chateau including its shed and stables were listed as a monument in 1948.
 * Saint-Barthélémy Church, A twelfth-century church, originally part of the Saint-Lhomer abbey of Blois, was listed in 1966
 * Saint-Jean Church, A fifteenth-century church which was registered as a monument in 1985
 * Saint-Martin Church, An eleventh-century church, which had work added to it in the fifteenth, sixteenth and twentieth centuries, was listed as a monument in 1990. The work in the 20th century, which was to repair the glass roofs of the southern roof, also saw the empty canopies of the southern part decorated with work from artists including Paul Belmondo, Hubert Yencesse and Jean Lambert-Rucki.
 * Hotel Colombel de la Rousselière, A seventeenth-century hotel, which was listed in 1981.
 * Small Hotel Colombel, An eighteenth-century hotel, registered as a monument in 1987.
 * Mérouvel needle factory, Built in 1819, the factory remained in use until 1952, where after the Second World War it spent the last few years of its life as a plastics moulding factory. The workshops have since been in part transformed into housing, and it was listed as a monument in 1987.
 * Coaching inn, This former coaching inn was built in the eighteenth century, and listed as a monument in 1981.

Transport
L'Aigle station has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granville.

Notable People

 * Charles de la Cerda (1327 - 1354), commonly known as Charles of Spain,  was a Franco-Castilian nobleman and soldier who died here.
 * Charles-Simon Catel (1773 - 1830), a composer and educator, was born here.
 * Léon Richer (1824 – 1911), a free-thinker, freemason, journalist and feminist who worked closely with Maria Deraismes during the early years of the feminist movement in Paris, was born here.
 * Léon-Eugène Méhédin (1828 – 1905), an archaeologist, architect and photographer who was born here.
 * André Sylvane (1851, L'Aigle – 1932), a dramatist and screenwriter, was born here.

Events

 * 8 January 1354 : Assassination of the constable of France, Charles d'Espagne, by men of Charles the Bad, king of Navarre.
 * 26 April 1803 - meteorite falls.

Twin towns – sister cities
L'Aigle is twinned with:
 * Aigle, Switzerland
 * 🇩🇪 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
 * 🇸🇰 Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia