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Welcome
to Probus Club de Pontivy!
We launched our
combined club (men and women) in April
2008 and meet the second Tuesday of each month. Members
& Guests arrive at 11h00, then a presentation (computerised or with
slides) is given by a member or a guest speaker. Around 12h30 we break for lunch.
Probus is an Association of active retirees who join together in clubs to provide regular opportunities to keep their
minds active, expand their interests and enjoy the fellowship of new friends.
The word
PROBUS
is an amalgam of the words
PROfessional and
BUSiness.
Today,
there are over 450,000 members in approximately 5,000 Probus clubs
worldwide.
For
further information on joining Probus Club de Pontivy
or the subject of
the next presentation, contact the Secretary
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July
14, 2009
at
Restaurant
L'Aiglon
Presentation
by
Suzanne
Rayfield
Tyntesfield House Discovered
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If
you are a Speaker and would like to give a presentation at one of our
Monthly Meetings , please contact the Secretary on probuspontivy@orange.fr
We
will of course wine & dine you along with our members for lunch in
the superb Restaurant L’Aiglon.
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Pontivy
("Pondi" in Breton )
is a
commune of
the département of
Morbihan,
in the region of
Bretagne,
at the confluence of the river
Blavet
and
the Canal
de Nantes à Brest.
A
monk called Ivy, built a
bridge nearby over the river Blavet in the 7th century, and the
town is named after him ("pont" being the French for
"bridge"). From November 9, 1804, the name was changed
to Napoléonville after Napoléon
Bonaparte,
under whom it had around 3000 inhabitants. After his downfall,
it was renamed Pontivy again, then later Bourbonville, and Napoléonville
again after Napoléon
III came
to power.
Pontivy
is twinned with
Tavistock
in
Great Britain since 1958
Ouelessebougou
in Mali since 1986
Wesseling
in Germany since 1972
Napoléonville
in Louisiana since 1989 |
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Le
Château des Rohan, constructed in granite around 1480 by Jean
II, Viscount of Rohan, constitutes a remarkable example of
military architecture from the end of the Middle Ages. |
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Pontivy
est fondée au VIIème siècle par le moine Ivy, venu d'Outre-Manche .
Il fait construire un pont sur le blavet d'ou le nom de la ville :
Pont-Ivy. Dès le XIIème siècle , son histoire s'associe à celle de
la prestigieuse famille des Rohan. Pontivy devient la capitale de leur
vicomté puis de leur duché. Entre temps , fin XVème siècle , le
vicomte Jean II de Rohan fait construire un château d'architecture
militaire. Du XVIème au XVIIIème siècle la ville connaît une économie
florissante grâce au commerce de la toile, du cuir et du blé. A la révolution
, les pontivyens, avant gardistes, prononcent les premiers le serment
"Vivre libre ou mourir ".
C'est
ici à Pontivy, dans un site verdoyant et champêtre, que Bonaparte
aurait souhaité installer le cœur administratif de la Bretagne.
Le
début du XIXème siècle vit donc s'édifier, au sud de la petite cité
médiévale restée intacte, une ville moderne, tertiaire et militaire
qui devait prendre comme nom Napoléonville. La chute de l'empire allait
brouiller les cartes en réduisant le projet, mais il reste une grande
place rectangulaire, de larges avenues rectilignes se coupant à angle
droit, d'immenses bâtiments , de belles casernes, et... le canal de
Nantes à Brest qui épouse en partie le lit du blavet lequel est
canalisé entre Pontivy et Lorient. |
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