Pont-Saint-Esprit

French commune
nomcommune=Pont-Saint-Esprit
Saint Saturnin church and the medieval bridge over the Rhône River
région=Languedoc-Roussillon
département=Gard
arrondissement=Nîmes
canton=Pont-Saint-Esprit
insee=30202
cp=30130
maire=Gilbert Baumet
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=
longitude=4.64916666667
latitude=44.2575
alt moy=59 m
alt mini=36
alt maxi=187 m
hectares=1849
km²=18.49
sans=9265
date-sans=1999
dens=501
date-dens=1999

Pont-Saint-Esprit (Occitan "Lo Pònt Sant Esperit") is a commune in the Gard departement in southern France.

The commune 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".

1951 disease

An outbreak of disease marked by acute psychotic episodes and various physical symptoms occurred in summer 1951 in Pont-Saint-Esprit, which caused more than 250 cases, 7 deaths, and 50 persons admitted to asylums. The alimentary intoxications, which affected other parts of France but were the most serious in Pont-Saint-Esprit, were traced to "damned bread" ("pain maudit"). Some misidentified the mass-poisoning as ergotism (which included sensationalist popular accounts attempting to link the poisonings with LSD, which is present in ergot), but the actual cause was consumption of seeds treated with mercury:

References

* John G. Fuller, "The Day Of St. Anthony's Fire" (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1968).

External links

* [http://www.ot-pont-saint-esprit.fr/ Tourism office website]