Pont-Saint-Esprit (French pronunciation: [pɔ̃ sɛ̃.t‿ɛspʁi], literally "Holy Spirit Bridge"; Occitan: Lo Pònt Sant Esperit) is a commune in the Gard département in southern France. It is situated on the river Rhône and is the site of a historical crossing, hence its name. The Ardèche flows into the Rhône, just to the north of the bridge. The residents are called Spiripontains.
Pont-Saint-Esprit | |
|---|---|
 Saint Saturnin church and the medieval bridge over the Rhône River | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Pont-Saint-Esprit  | |
  Pont-Saint-Esprit  Pont-Saint-Esprit | |
| Coordinates: 44°15′27″N 4°38′57″E / 44.2575°N 4.6492°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Occitania |
| Department | Gard |
| Arrondissement | Nîmes |
| Canton | Pont-Saint-Esprit |
| Intercommunality | CA Gard Rhodanien |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Claire Lapeyronie[1] |
| Area 1 | 18.49 km2 (7.14 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[2] | 10,600 |
| • Density | 570/km2 (1,500/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 30202 /30130 |
| Elevation | 36–187 m (118–614 ft) (avg. 59 m or 194 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
History
editThe bridge was observed by the Irish pilgrim Symon Semeonis in 1323 on his way to the Holy Land: "Pont-Saint-Esprit where there is a famous stone bridge over the Rhône, half a mile in length, the height of which and the breadth of its arches are greatly admired by all those who cross over it."[3] Italian canon Antonio de Beatis described the bridge in his 1517-1518 travel journal: "This has twenty tall, wide arches, is finely built in a pleasing stone and is still better paved."[4]
In the seventeenth century the Jewish immigrants from Spain were cast out of central Bayonne and settled in Saint Esprit. This quarter became known in popular parlance as Saint Esprit les Israélites because Jews constituted the majority of its population -which was extremely rare in France. It was a Jew of Spanish origin, Gaspar Dacosta, who introduced the art of chocolate-making to Saint Esprit, and indeed in France.[5] [6]
Geography
editClimate
editPont-Saint-Esprit has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). The average annual temperature in Pont-Saint-Esprit is 14.2 °C (57.6 °F). The average annual rainfall is 829.8 mm (32.67 in) with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 23.9 °C (75.0 °F), and lowest in January, at around 5.5 °C (41.9 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Pont-Saint-Esprit was 42.2 °C (108.0 °F) on 6 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −12.7 °C (9.1 °F) on 7 January 1985.
| Climate data for Pont-Saint-Esprit (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1972−present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 19.9 (67.8) |
23.2 (73.8) |
27.0 (80.6) |
30.0 (86.0) |
34.4 (93.9) |
39.3 (102.7) |
40.1 (104.2) |
42.2 (108.0) |
36.0 (96.8) |
29.5 (85.1) |
23.5 (74.3) |
20.0 (68.0) |
42.2 (108.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.1 (48.4) |
11.0 (51.8) |
15.7 (60.3) |
18.9 (66.0) |
23.4 (74.1) |
27.4 (81.3) |
30.6 (87.1) |
30.4 (86.7) |
24.8 (76.6) |
19.3 (66.7) |
13.1 (55.6) |
9.6 (49.3) |
19.4 (66.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.5 (41.9) |
6.5 (43.7) |
10.3 (50.5) |
13.1 (55.6) |
17.3 (63.1) |
21.1 (70.0) |
23.9 (75.0) |
23.7 (74.7) |
19.1 (66.4) |
14.8 (58.6) |
9.4 (48.9) |
6.1 (43.0) |
14.2 (57.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.8 (35.2) |
2.1 (35.8) |
5.0 (41.0) |
7.4 (45.3) |
11.2 (52.2) |
14.7 (58.5) |
17.1 (62.8) |
17.1 (62.8) |
13.4 (56.1) |
10.2 (50.4) |
5.6 (42.1) |
2.6 (36.7) |
9.0 (48.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −12.7 (9.1) |
−10.2 (13.6) |
−7.7 (18.1) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
1.6 (34.9) |
5.0 (41.0) |
8.0 (46.4) |
7.1 (44.8) |
4.0 (39.2) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
−5.0 (23.0) |
−7.2 (19.0) |
−12.7 (9.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 67.8 (2.67) |
43.9 (1.73) |
47.0 (1.85) |
67.3 (2.65) |
64.3 (2.53) |
48.6 (1.91) |
39.9 (1.57) |
47.2 (1.86) |
109.1 (4.30) |
117.6 (4.63) |
118.2 (4.65) |
58.9 (2.32) |
829.8 (32.67) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.1 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 5.1 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 5.7 | 7.3 | 8.1 | 6.4 | 70.3 |
| Source: Météo-France[7] | |||||||||||||
Bouvier family origins
editPont-Saint-Esprit is famous as the town of origin of Michel Bouvier, a cabinetmaker, who was the ancestor of John Vernou Bouvier III, father of Jacqueline Kennedy.
1951 mass poisoning incident
editOn 15 August 1951, an outbreak of poisoning, marked by acute psychotic episodes and various physical symptoms, occurred in Pont-Saint-Esprit. More than 250 people were involved, including 50 persons interned in asylums and four deaths.[8] Most academic sources accept naturally occurring ergot poisoning in rye flour as the cause of the epidemic, while a few theorize other causes such as poisoning by mercury, mycotoxins, or nitrogen trichloride.[9][10][11][12][13]
Population
edit
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| Source: EHESS[14] and INSEE (1968-2017)[15] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International relations
editPont-Saint-Esprit is twinned with:
Notable people
edit- Michel Bouvier (1792-1874), carpenter and French American immigrant to Philadelphia[16]
See also
editNotes and references
edit- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ "The Journey of Symon Semeonis from Ireland to the Holy Land".
- ^ Antonio de Beatis. The Travel Journal of Antonio de Beatis, 1517-1518. Translated by J.R. Hale (Ed) and J.M.A. Lindon. Hakluyt Society (1979)
- ^ "Bayonne - jewish heritage, history, synagogues, museums, areas and sites to visit".
- ^ https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2679-bayonne [bare URL]
- ^ "Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records" (PDF) (in French). Météo-France. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ Gabbai, Lisbonne and Pourquier (15 September 1951). "Ergot Poisoning at Pont St. Esprit". British Medical Journal. 2 (4732): 650–651. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4732.650. PMC 2069953. PMID 14869677.
- ^ Lisbonne, Gabbai (15 September 1951). "Ergot Poisoning at Pont St. Esprit". British Medical Journal. 2 (4732): 650–651. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4732.650. PMC 2069953. PMID 14869677.
- ^ Finger, Stanley (2001). Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations Into Brain Function. Oxford University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-19-514694-3. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ Pommerville, Jeffrey C.; Alcamo, I. Edward (2013). Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology: Body systems edition. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 734. ISBN 978-1-4496-0594-0. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ Cavaciocchi, Simonetta, ed. (2010). Economic and biological interactions in pre-industrial Europe, from the 13th to the 18th century. Istituto internazionale di storia economica F. Datini. Settimana di studio. Firenze University Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-88-8453-585-6. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ Frederick Burwick (1 November 2010). Poetic Madness and the Romantic Imagination. Penn State Press. pp. 180–. ISBN 978-0-271-04296-1. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Pont-Saint-Esprit, EHESS (in French).
- ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
- ^ "Michel Bouvier (1792-1874) - HouseHistree". househistree.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
Further reading
edit- John G. Fuller, The Day Of St. Anthony's Fire (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1968).
External links
edit- Tourism office website
- Document BBC Radio 4 programme on the Le Pain Maudit