Pontivy


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.

History

A monk called Ivy built a bridge nearby over the river Blavet in the 7th century, and the town is named after him. From November 9, 1804, the name was changed to Napoléonville after Napoléon Bonaparte, 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 came to power.

Economy

This is a largely agricultural town.

Demographics

Inhabitants of Pontivy are called Pontivyens.

Breton language

The municipality launched a linguistic plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg 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 town maintains twinning links with: