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Pontmain |
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Pontmain
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Location within Pays de la Loire region
Pontmain
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| Administration | |
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| Country | France |
| Region | Pays de la Loire |
| Department | Mayenne |
| Arrondissement | Mayenne |
| Canton | Landivy |
| Mayor | Marie-Antoinette Guesdon (2008–2014) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 134–210 m (440–690 ft) (avg. 180 m/590 ft) |
| Land area1 | 7.17 km2 (2.77 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 879 (2006) |
| - Density | 123 /km2 (320 /sq mi) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 53181/ 53220 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Pontmain is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France.
On 17 January 1871, some children from the village claimed to see an apparition of the Virgin Mary in the sky. February 2 1872, Mgr. Wicart, bishop of Laval, recognised the apparition. :
Nous jugeons que l'Immaculée Vierge Marie, Mère de Dieu a véritablement apparu, le 17 janvier 1871, à Eugène Barbedette, Joseph Barbedette, Françoise Richer et Jeanne-Marie Lebossé, dans le hameau de Pontmain.
We judge that the immaculate Virgin Mary, mother of God has veritably appeared, on January 17 1871, to Eugène Barbedette, Joseph Barbedette, Françoise Richer and Jeanne-Marie Lebossé, in the hamlet of Pontmain.
A new church was built in the commune after this apparition between 1873 and 1877. It was erected with a basilica by Pope Pius X in 1908. During World War I, a concentration camp existed in Pontmain. This camp was reserved for civil inmates who lived there with families. In the camp were inmates from Austria, Alsace, Lorraine, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ottoman Empire etc.