So passing our day again in lovely quant Quimperlé in the pretty Finistére of our lovely Bretagne and in our belle France let me continue our walking journey. Again, bear in mind this is a town visited several times and plenty of posts on my blog. These are new photos.
Also, me think, not written enough on the bridge just passing and it deserves a bit more, therefore, let me give you a post on it ok. It is more locally known as the Pont Fleuri or flowery bridge but also known as pont Lovignon as the name of the square before it. You get to it walking past the Abbey Church of Ste Croix (see post) on rue Ellé until you see it.
The older bridge here called Pen Pont Ellé dated from the 15C. Built on the frontier of Vannes, and Cornouaille where Quimperlé was the gatekeeper. It was on the road Quimper to Nantes giving access to the three fortified gates of the enclosed town. This bridge it is said was crossed over by Duchess Anne of Bretagne in 1505. It is by this bridge as well that in 1590 the troops of Henri IV entered the town by surprise and vandalised it.
The Pont Lovignon or Fleuri is a small bridge over the Ellé river. It goes back at least to the 17C. This bridge crosses the Ellé river at the level of the place Lovignon ,and was until 1643 the only means of access to Quimperlé from the east. It has 2 of its arches rebuilt in 1746 during the flooding. The bridge was guarded by two towers on heavy thick walls surrounding the lower city or basse ville opening out with three gates following to roads , Vannes-Quimper and Quimperlé-Carhaix. The ramparts were done between 1250 and 1270, became in ruins after the war of the 100 years and were erased for good by 1680. The granite blocks salvage were then used to built the quai Brizeux bordering the Laita river.
The Pont Fleuri bridge inspired several painters from the 19C on, and one Théa collection of songs collected, words and music, in the Breton language, written by Théodore Hersart de la Villemarque , wrote Barzas-Breiz (= poems of Brittany ,which is a collection of songs , words and music, in the Breton part of Brittany in the 19C) has a statue there by the pont and square.
Again , it was discovered in 2003, a sixth arch backfilled on Place Lovignon. The pont Lovignon or Fleuri has retained its medieval appearance with a donkey profile, cobblestones and above all powerful spurs to split the sometimes devastating waves of the Ellé. Recall that Quimperlé is located at the confluence of the Ellé and the Isole then forming a coastal river La Laïta. In 2000, Quimperlé experienced a millennial flood with an overflow threshold of almost 6 meters. As recently as 2018 the flooding here can be devastating yet nothing is done , and folks renovate again and again.
From the tourist office of Quimperlé a bit more on the rivers and the Laita especially in English: Tourist office of Quimperle on the rivers
Hope you have enjoy this brief story on the quant bridge, very narrow maybe 10-15 meters on the Laita at rue Ellé and Place Lovignon in Quimperlé.
And remember,happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 