Pont-Saint-Esprit
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| Commune of Pont-Saint-Esprit | |
| Location | |
| Longitude | 04° 38' 57" E |
| Latitude | 44° 15' 27" N |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Région | Languedoc-Roussillon |
| Département | Gard |
| Arrondissement | Nîmes |
| Canton | Canton of Pont-Saint-Esprit (chief town) |
| Mayor | Gilbert Baumet (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Altitude | 36m–187m (avg. 59m) |
| Land area¹ | 18.49 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
9,265 |
| - Density (1999) | 501/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 30202/ 30130 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| ² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). | |
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Pont-Saint-Esprit is a commune of southern France, in the Gard département and has a population (1999) of 9,265 (Spiripontains). The commune is situated on the Rhône River and is the site of a historical crossing, hence its name.
The Ardèche River flows into the Rhône, just to the north of the bridge.
An outbreak of disease marked by acute psychotic episodes and various physical symptoms occurred in summer 1951 in Pont-Saint-Esprit, which caused more than 250 cases, 7 deaths, and 50 persons "interned" in asylums. The alimentary intoxications, which affected other parts of France but were the most serious in Pont-Saint-Esprit, were traced to "damned bread" (pain maudit) which contained ergot, a hallucinogenic fungus with effects comparable to LSD, among other serious effects. The city was the scene of a panic. Historian Steven L. Kaplan thus quoted a newspaper:
"The most incredible versions (versions abracadabrantes) are in circulation. The baker, a former candidate for the RPF [ de Gaulle's party ], is first accused, then his servant, then the fountains' water, then the modern machines, then foreign powers, then bacteriological war, then the devil, the SNCF, the Pope, Stalin, the Church, nationalizations." [1]
[edit] References
- ^ Steven L. Kaplan, "Le pain maudit de Pont-Saint-Esprit", p.68 of L'Histoire n°271, December 2002, article named "Le pain, le peuple et le roi", pp.64-70
[edit] External link
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