Bird's eye view with the Collegiate in the centre and to its right, the Seminary.Situated on the southern slope of the Lanneon hillside, this ancient city stands above the waters of the right bank of the River Goyen. Its houses and gardens lie close to and harmonise with the extraordinarily beautiful Romanesque church which is dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-Roscudon.
The town, built in the form of an amphitheatre, dates back to the eleventh century. In the course of its history, it has seen craftsmen and clerics going about their business and wealthy merchants plying their sea trade with Spain.
The country fairs, at which pigs and black and white piebald Breton cows are still traded, are part of a continuing and ancient tradition. Fairs and markets continue to play a lively part in the life of this city whose affairs remain closely linked to agricultural life.
PONT-CROIX, city of character, is the administrative centre for the surrounding area which comprises Audierne, Beuzec-Cap Sizun, Confort-Meilars, Cleden, Esquibien, Ile de Sein, Mahalon, Primelin, Plogoff and Plouhinec.
PONT-CROIX is mid-way between Quimper (32 Km) and the Pointe du Raz ( 25 Km)In 1997, there were 1,762 people living in PONT-CROIX.
Like many other communities in Brittany, and for the same reasons, the current population is undergoing a significant decline in comparison with the beginning of the century, when there were 2,025 inhabitants.
Since 1992, PONT-CROIX has been twinned with Contantine-Gweek, a small town in Cornwall, England. There have been numerous exchanges, both between families and between the city college and its English counterparts.
Many artists and craftsmen and women, including painters, sculptors, potters and leather-workers have chosen to make PONT-CROIX their home.
Apart from the many amateur and professional painters whose canvases have been inspired by the location (see the painting and drawing competition which takes place on August 15), Pont-Croix and Cap Sizun in general have long been a source of inspiration for painters, notably Matisse in 1895, Desire Lucas, Max Jacob and Emile Simon. All these artists have enjoyed a warm welcome on the Cap.
Madame Gloaguen, owner of the Travellers hotel (l'Hotel des Voyageurs) in Pont-Croix in the 1930s, played a somewhat similar role in the life of the artistic community as her counterpart, "Marie Poupee" in Pont-Aven....Other artists stayed at l'Hotel Poupon (owned by the Vonnick Caroff family). Thus, they could be seen wandering around the steep little streets or in the market square.
There were writers, too: Gustave Flaubert, Maxime de Camp, François Coppee, Octave Mirbeau, Guy de Maupassant and Andre Theuriet.
Numerous films have also been shot in Pont-Croix. These include:* La merveilleuse visite by Marcel CARNE
* Vos gueules les mouettes by Robert DHERY
* Le cheval d'orgueil by Claude CHABROL based on the book by Pierre_jakes Helias
* Le quincailler amoureux, an episode in the film for television entitled "Les cinq dernieres minutes" with Daniel Prevost and Pierre Santini, which was shot during the summer of 1995.
* Les croix au dessus de la mer, filmed in May 2000.
MUST SEES!* The Collegiate
* Les rues "chere": picturesque, steep, stepped streets linked by La rue des Courtils at the foot of the town walls.
* The old mills: Pen Ar C'Han and the unique, tide-driven Pont de Keridreuff ( moulin a maree)
* The old port of Pennanguer
* The washing basins (lavoirs) and the fountains.
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Monument to the dead by the sculptor Rene QUILLIVIC, inspired by a woman of Pont-Croix who lost three sons in the first world war.
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