Country France Department Gard Canton Pont-Saint-Esprit Area 18.49 km² Local time Thursday 9:45 PM | Region Occitanie Arrondissement Nîmes Time zone CET (UTC+1) Population 10,640 (2011) | |
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Weather 12°C, Wind SE at 10 km/h, 90% Humidity Points of interest Musée Paul‑Raymond, Musée d'Art Sacré du Gard, Le Clos de Reverony, Domaine Ventajol | ||
Pont-Saint-Esprit (Occitan: Lo Pònt Sant Esperit) is a commune in the Gard département in southern France. It is situated on the Rhône River and is the site of a historical crossing, hence its name. The Ardèche River flows into the Rhône, just to the north of the bridge. The residents are called Spiripontains.
Contents
- Map of 30130 Pont Saint Esprit France
- Bouvier family origins
- 1951 mass poisoning incident
- International relations
- References
Map of 30130 Pont-Saint-Esprit, France
Bouvier family origins
Pont-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
On 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. Most academic sources accept ergot poisoning as the cause of the epidemic, while a few theorize other causes such as poisoning by mercury, mycotoxins, or nitrogen trichloride. In 2008, journalist Hank Albarelli speculated that the incident was a secret mind control experiment by the Central Intelligence Agency, a conclusion subsequently dismissed by historians and chemists.
International relations
Pont-Saint-Esprit is twinned with: