Pontmain

Commune française|nomcommune=Pontmain
région=Pays de la Loire
département=Mayenne
arrondissement=Mayenne
canton=Landivy
insee=53181
cp=53220
maire=Marie Antoinette Guesdon
mandat=
intercomm=Communauté de communes du Bocage Mayennais
longitude=-1.05722222222
latitude=48.4394444444
alt moy=180 m
alt mini=134 m
alt maxi=210 m
hectares=717
km²=7,17
sans=893
date-sans=1999
dens=124|

Pontmain is a commune in the département of Mayenne, Pays de la Loire, close to the border with Bretagne and Normandie.

History

On January 17 1871, some children from the village claimed to see an apparition of the Virgin Mary in the sky. February 2 1872, Mgr. Wicart, bishop of Laval, recognised the apparition. :

"Nous jugeons que l'Immaculée Vierge Marie, Mère de Dieu a véritablement apparu, le 17 janvier 1871, à Eugène Barbedette, Joseph Barbedette, Françoise Richer et Jeanne-Marie Lebossé, dans le hameau de Pontmain".

"We judge that the immaculate Virgin Mary, mother of God has veritably appeared, on January 17 1871, at Eugène Barbedette, Joseph Barbedette, Françoise Richer and Jeanne-Marie Lebossé, in the hamlet of Pontmain."

A new church was built in the commune after this apparition between 1873 and 1877. It was erected with a basilica by Pope Pius X in 1908. During World War I, a concentration camp existed in Pontmain. This camp was reserved for civil inmates who lived there with families. In the camp were inmates from Austria, Alsace, Lorraine, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ottoman Empire etc.

ee also

* Our Lady of Pontmain
* Communes of Mayenne

References

Translated from [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontmain the corresponding page] on the French Wikipedia, accessed 20 May 2007.