05/11/2026
We have written many articles about the towns and villages that we sell in and around. Today we look at the town of Flers!
Flers
Flers is a major town in the Orne region of Normandy. It has a population of approximately 15,000 people and is slightly smaller than Vire in that respect. It is very similar to Vire insofar as you have everything available to you as you would come to expect from a large town like this – notably the same train that takes you into Paris Montparnasse.
The town is building a new cinema. The town’s website is excited to announce that
“A six-screen cinema complex with around 800 seats is to be built on the Place du 14-Juillet in Flers town centre, in place of the former Mr.Bricolage building. The Les 4-Vikings cinema, located on rue Abbé-Jean-Baptiste-Lecornu, will be transferred there. The new cinema will be called Planet’Ciné. All cinemas will be accessible to people with reduced mobility and equipped with bleachers. Rows will be wider for greater comfort.
Work is now underway. The building, vacant since 2017, was demolished in early 2023. A 3,300 m² plot of land will then be sold to Les Feux de la Rampe, which operates several cinemas in western France, including the one in Flers, for the construction of the complex. Construction could begin in early 2024.
The other part of the site will be given over to the construction of housing and shops.”
Meanwhile you can still enjoy the existing cinema that is currently in use. It also has everything you could want from a large town such as bowling, all the major retail outlets on the outskirts of the town, the château and the lake that surrounds it, a children’s play area and arguably one of the best all you can eat Chinese Buffets in the local area.
Like most of our Normandy towns, it is rich in history. In particular, the history of the castle of Flers, which was bought for the enjoyment of the local community in 1901 by the then Mairie, Julien Sales.
And like many Normandy towns, Flers was the target of strategic bombing on 6 and 7 June 1944, aimed at reducing the advance of German reinforcements. Sadly, 80% of the town was destroyed. What remained of the town was liberated on 16 August by the British Army and the memorial to the division is at Pont de Vère, north of Flers.
It is twinned with many other towns eg. Warminster in England, Wunstorf in Germany and Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Did you know that Flers also has a private air strip?! It has local buses and schooling from pre-school all the way through to Lycée. One Lycée in particular (Saint Thomas d’Aquin) has a cycling speciality, whereby the students compete and train for local and regional races and may become a Tour de France winner?!
We hope you enjoyed this little insight into the thriving town of Flers.
