This is Pontivy or Napoleonville !!!

Posted in Bretagne, France

Again, need to update this one close by and many family visits. There is so much around here to tell and Pontivy is one of them. And yes it used to be called briefly Napoleonville for you know who! Therefore, let me tell you a bit more on this is Pontivy or Napoleonville !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

This is in inland of mybeautiful Morbihan and in my lovely region of Bretagne and my belle France. It is just up the alley from our house on road D768.  One of my sons worked here for a while so we were in the area driving around and decided to pay a visit. We walk around the town reminicent of the places we have been, doing some shopping in bakery  inside the Intermarché supermarket , and apéro drink in Le Rivoli bar café on Rue Nationale.

Pontivy

We had a wonderful lunch at resto Le Martray, pl du Martray on 32 rue du Pont, just so good we book for next weekend again. Fish in crustacean sauce, bavette or steak in poivre sauce, half bottle of muscadet white wine, ile flottante dessert, coffees, and apero like porto red all for about 21 euros per person, and the service like at home.

pontivy-le-martray-resto-pl-du-martray-apr13

pontivy-le-martray-resto-inside-apr13

Then, we did our walking along the Blavet river on the quai d’Arcole especially and came into city on the back of the Imperial Church of St Joseph (see posts) néo gothic from 1860, It was built while visiting by Napoléon III under an imperial subvention. We, then, walked over to the other one, Church Basilica (since 1959) Notre Dame de la Joie , (see posts) this is a nice one and again was open at Place Bourdonnay-du-Clézio . Built in the style neo gothic flamboyant,the statues of  Notre-Dame de la Joie, sculpture in a trunk of oak wood and of  Notre-Dame de la Délivrance, revered by the pregnant women are two wonderful sights to see inside. Nearby the latter one, you find a smallChapelle of Saint Ivy (see post) or congrégation of the chapel of St Ivy ;member artisians were many here since 1734; chapel rebuilt in 1776 at Place du Marché au Blé.,Completely restored from 1984-1989. There is a very interesting monument by the Basilica ND de la Joie,on the small park with a fountain. This is Le Monument de la Fédération Bretonne Angevin setup in 1896 here in honor of the volunteers of 1790 who fought for the French Republic  with the motto, « Ni Bretons, ni Angevins, mais Français. » or Not Breton, Not Angevins, but French.

A bit of history I like tell us that the famous Napoléon Ier wanted to give this town more notoriety in central Brittany, at the time with only 3000 inhabitants . The idea during peace a center of great commerce and during war a military important stronghold.  From the year brumaire XII or November 9, 1804 it received the name of Napoléonville.  All is arranged to make this a model city with new architecture whereby the first stone was put on August 12 1807 in his presence.  It had large avenues and beautiful gardens,and many streets were name on imperial figures . An imperial high school or secondary school was created in 1808 , the 3rd high school in Brittany after those of Rennes and Nantes This school recruits from the departments of Morbihan and  Finistére .  The district of the cavalry was finished in 1811, the house of detention in 1813,the mayor’s office in 1834, the department government building in  1839 , and the justice building in 1846.  With the monumental buildings which responds to the huge bourgeoises mansions.

It is in his speech to the nation of 1806 Napoléon Ier, written upon his order talks about Pontivy/Napoleonville here translated: “In Morbihan, Napoléonville ,Pontivy. It is in Pontivy, in a green and rural site that Bonaparte would have liked to install the administrative heart of Brittany. The beginning of the 19C thus saw being built, to the south of the small medieval city. remained intact, a modern city, tertiary and military which was to take as name Napoleonville. The fall of the empire was going to muddy the waters by reducing the project, but there remains a large rectangular place, wide rectilinear avenues intersecting at right angles, huge buildings, beautiful barracks, and … the Nantes-Brest canal”

The town asked to be called Bourbonville after the first Restauration  1814-1815, and takes the name of Pontivy after the return of king Louis XVIII ,later it comes back to be called Napoléonville under Napoléon III. From  1870 the town regained the current name of Pontivy. Which of course in Breton is Pondi.

The source is the official History of the Consulate and Empire, the entire text to the Nation is here: http://www.histoire-empire.org/correspondance_de_napoleon/1806/etat_de_l_empire_1806.htm

The tourist office of Bretagne on Pontivy:  https://www.brittanytourism.com/destinations/the-10-destinations/heart-of-brittany-kalon-breizh/pontivy/

The city of Pontivy on its heritage: https://ville-pontivy.bzh/decouvrir/histoire-patrimoine/

The official restaurant Le Martray of Pontivy: https://www.restaurant-le-martray-pontivy.fr/

There you go folks, this is wonderful nice historical Pontivy, and it needs to be visit more , me think. Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Pontivy or Napoleonville as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health,and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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