Pontivy

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Commune of Pontivy
Location
Longitude	-2.98°
Latitude	48.07°
Administration
Country	France
Region	Bretagne
Department	Morbihan (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement	Pontivy
Canton	Pontivy (chief town)
Mayor	Jean-Pierre Le Roch (2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	48 m–192 m (avg. 60 m)
Land area¹	24.85 km²
Population² (1999)	13,508
- Density (1999)	544/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	56178/ 56300
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Pontivy (Pondi in Breton) is a commune of the département of Morbihan, in the région of Bretagne, at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest.

Contents 1 History 2 Economy 3 Sights 4 Events 5 Twinnings

[edit] History

A monk called Ivy built a bridge nearby over the river Blavet in the 7th century, and the town is named after him ("pont" being the French for "bridge"). From November 9, 1804, the name was changed to Napoléonville after Napoléon Bonaparte, under whom it had around 3000 inhabitants. After his downfall, it was renamed Pontivy again, then later Bourbonville, and Napoléonville again after Napoléon III came to power.

[edit] Economy

This is a largely agricultural town.

[edit] Sights

• The castle of Rohan (with its moat) (late XVe).
• The Notre-Dame-de-Joie basilica. [Basilica:[1]
• The Saint Joseph church. [Eglise St. Joseph:[2]

[edit] Events

• Every year the final round of Kan ar Bobl, a Breton music competition.

[edit] Twinnings

The town maintains twinning links with:

1. Tavistock in Great Britain since 1958
2. Ouelessebougou, in Mali since 1986
3. Wesseling, in Germany since 1972
4. Napoléonville, in Louisiana since 1989