There are indications of Roman rural exploitation between the first to the third century (AD) on the site of the future Pont-Croix . The Romans built a rich agricultural development at KERVENENNEC in Pont-Croix which consisted of what were called Villae, enclosed by a surrounding wall together with several buildings used for dwellings and utilities. The farms were in a sense luxurious. The Celts lived in dwellings made of wood but the Romans were familiar with the techniques of masonry. They knew how to make cement or tiled floors. Developments such as this one at Pont-Croix benefited from thermal spas: spas similar to those on the mediterranean coast, with changing rooms, baths and swimming pools heated by the circulation of warm underground air. Tiles from these spas were found during excavation and can be seen in the Musee Breton at Quimper.

These large farms were managed by an administrator and worked by agricultural labourers and small farmers. The town of Point-Croix even had forges where essential items could be made.

 The town of Pont-Croix was most probably founded around the tenth or eleventh century, close to a point situated upstream on the GOYEN estuary which formed a vital link between the coastal regions of Cap Sizun and the Bigouden countryside.

It is at this point that the bridge of Keridreuff was subsequently built. A tidal mill (moulin a maree), one of the oldest in Brittany, was built on this bridge.

To the west of Quimper, PONT-CROIX, essentially artisanal and agricultural, was at that time the small regional capital of lower Cornouaille. It benefitted from a sheltered port, PORS AL LISTRI, situated close to the current bridge and accessible to ocean-going ships allowing for the import of essential goods and the export of agricultural and artisanal produce to neighbouring ports or even to Bordeaux, St. Jean de Luz and Spain. the port was known for its salmon fishing and its tanneries.

PONT-CROIX has moreover maintained the tradition of its famous country fairs of long ago.. Documents dating back to 1385 mention the "chohuye de PONT-KROES" (the Pont-Croix throng) from which the current word "cohue" derives, indicating how famous it was and how vast the number of people who attended its fairs and markets at that time. Pont-Croix was then the economic capital of the Cap. Everything could be purchased there: horses, pigs, cows, chickens and leather.

 The earliest known mention of the name PONT-KROES, of which there are various spellings, dates back to the thirteenth century and comes from the bridge that was erected on the site of the earlier passing-point on the Goyen, where the tracks which ran from east to west of Cap Sizun crossed. A Roman track went west from VORGIUM (Carhaix) to the Point of the VAN and from north to south, from Beuzec-Cap Sizun towards the Bigouden countryside.

 On the man-made hillock, built on the right bank of the Goyen, there was a moated castle, constructed of wood and ringed by a ditch and fence-work. This was the residence of the lords of PONT-CROIX, whose role it was to protect the crossing of the Goyen and whose place of worship was Notre Dame de Roscudon. The castle disappeared during the fifteenth century but before it did so, houses, businesses and markets clustered around it.

 Works undertaken in 1893 uncovered the castle moat. A section of the stepped ramparts can still be seen in the charming little ruelle des Courtils. Built in the Middle Ages by the lords of Pont-Croix, the castle underwent many changes in fortune but always remained their property, under the name of their lordships of Pont-Croix.

 In the thirteenth century, this fiefdom was held by a Pont-Croix lord, vassall to the Duke of Brittany. The last and only known lord of this lineage is SINQUIN de PONT-CROIX, who founded the church of Notre Dame de Roscudon.

SINQUIN had a son who died while relatively young and two daughters, one of whom, PLESOU, heir to the fiefdom, married Alain de TYVARLAN at which point PONT-CROIX passed to the domain of Landudec.

 Until 1300, the lords of PONT-CROIX bore the name of the town. As their coat of arms they took the famous silver lion on a field of blue, a sad lion without teeth, tongue or claws; their motto is "naturally".

 In 1384, Alix de TYVARLAN-PONT-CROIX became heir and in 1391 she married Jean the First of Rosmadec of the powerful and well-known Telgruc family of the Presqu'ile de Crozon-Finistere. He was the half-brother of Bertrand de Rosmadic, archbishop of Quimper and builder of the nave of the Cathedral of ST Corentin in the fifteenth century. The Rosmadecs hence became lords of PONT-CROIX until the eighteenth century.

In the course of its history, PONT-CROIX was in turn:

* The judicial seat of the "seigneur", with authority over the local area, with its lower, middle and high court of justice. The sinister-looking "posts" or gibets destined for the condemned stood in the "park an justissou" high above the "quartier de la Croix".

* Marquisat from 1719.

* Regional headquarters during the Revolution.

*District headquarters, comprising 12 communities, since 1790.

 

Présentation of Pont-Croix - The church - History