Pontivy (; ) is a commune in the

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

department in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river

Blavet The Blavet (; ) river flows from central Brittany and enters the Atlantic Ocean on the south coast near Lorient. It is long. The river is canalised for most of its length, forming one of the links in the Brittany canal system. It connects with t ...

and the

Canal de Nantes à Brest Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow u ...

. Inhabitants of Pontivy are called ''Pontivyens'' in French.

Map

History

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

called Ivy built a bridge nearby over the river

in the 7th century, and the town is named after him ("''pont-Ivi''" being the Breton for "Ivy's bridge"). From November 9, 1804, the name was changed to Napoléonville after

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, under whom it had around 3,000 inhabitants. After his downfall, it was renamed Pontivy again, then later Bourbonville, and Napoléonville again after

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

came to power.

Population

Economy

This is a largely agricultural town.

Breton language

The municipality launched a linguistic plan through

Ya d'ar brezhoneg (, ) is a campaign started in the 21st century by the () to promote and stimulate the use of the Breton language in daily life in Brittany, northwestern France. Breton is a Brythonic Celtic language which has fallen out of general use since the ...

on 8 August 2004. As part of that plan, all road signs in the town centre are bilingual. In 2008, 11.34% of the children in the town attended the bilingual schools in primary education.

Sights

*The castle of Rohan (with its

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

) (late XVe). *The Notre-Dame-de-Joie basilica. asilic

*The Saint Joseph church. glise St. Josep

Events

*Every year the final round of

Kan ar Bobl Kan ar Bobl ( Breton for ''Song of the people'') is a Breton music competition created in 1973, that takes place in Lorient as part of the Festival Interceltique de Lorient. It was the brainchild of Polig Montjarret. Presentation At the time of ...

, a Breton music competition.

Twin towns

The town maintains twinning links with: *

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

, United Kingdom since 1958 * Ouelessebougou,

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

since 1986 *

Wesseling Wesseling () is an industrial German city on the Rhine bordering Cologne city on the south. With three chemical plants and a petroleum refinery within its city limits, it has an important place in the international petrochemical industry. Histo ...

, Germany since 1972 *

Napoléonville Pontivy (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. Inhabitants of Pontivy are called ''Pontivyens'' in French. Map Hist ...

, United States since 1989

Climate

References

External links

Official website
*
Mayors of Morbihan Association

Pontivy railway station and bus terminal
Communes of Morbihan Subprefectures in France {{Morbihan-geo-stub

Map