Pontivy

Pontivy, a town of western France, chief town of an arrondissement in the department of Morbihan, 46 m. N.N.W. of Vannes by rail. Pop. (1906), 6312 (town); 9506 (commune). The town, situated on the Blavet, at its confluence with the Nantes-Brest canal, comprises two distinct parts - the old town and that to the south known as Napoleonville. The latter, built by order of Napoleon I., who desired to make it the military headquarters for Brittany, and consisting chiefly of barracks, subsequently gave its name to the whole town, but in 1871 the old name was resumed. The ancient castle (1485) of the dukes of Rohan, whose capital the town was, is occupied by the Musee le Brigant of art and archaeology. A monument to commemorate the Breton-Angevin Union, the deputies of which met at Pontivy in 1790, was erected in 1894, and there are statues of Dr Guepin, a democrat, and General de Lourmel (d. 1854). The town has a sub-prefecture, a tribunal of first instance, and a lycee for boys. Pontivy had its origin in a monastery founded in the 7th century by St Ivy, a monk of Lindisfarne.