It stands as an interface between the tree-lined Esplanade des Quinconces that is the venue every year for several flagship events (weigh-in for the Le Mans 24-hour race, the 25e Heures du Livre and a fun fair) and Place des Jacobins which is the site three times a week of a very busy outdoor market. Located below the apse of Saint-Julien Cathedral, it stands across from the law courts that were built in the 1980s and a group of residential buildings with ground-floor businesses and the Palais des Comtes du Maine, now used as the city hall.