Pont-Saint-Esprit

The bridge was observed by the Irish pilgrim Symon Semeonis in 1323 on his way to the Holy Land: "Pont-Saint-Esprit where there is a famous stone bridge over the Rhône, half a mile in length, the height of which and the breadth of its arches are greatly admired by all those who cross over it."{{Cite web|url=https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T300002-001/index.html|title = The Journey of Symon Semeonis from Ireland to the Holy Land}} Italian canon Antonio de Beatis described the bridge in his 1517-1518 travel journal: "This has twenty tall, wide arches, is finely built in a pleasing stone and is still better paved."Antonio de Beatis. The Travel Journal of Antonio de Beatis, 1517-1518. Translated by J.R. Hale (Ed) and J.M.A. Lindon. Hakluyt Society (1979)

In the seventeenth century the Jewish immigrants from Spain were cast out of central Bayonne and settled in Saint Esprit. This quarter became known in popular parlance as Saint Esprit les Israélites because Jews constituted the majority of its population -which was extremely rare in France. It was a Jew of Spanish origin, Gaspar Dacosta, who introduced the art of chocolate-making to Saint Esprit, and indeed in France.{{cite web | url=https://jguideeurope.org/en/region/france/the-southwest/bayonne/#:~:text=In%20the%20seventeenth%20century%20the,was%20extremely%20rare%20in%20France | title=Bayonne - jewish heritage, history, synagogues, museums, areas and sites to visit }}{{Cite web | title=BAYONNE - JewishEncyclopedia.com | url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2679-bayonne | access-date=2025-04-02 | website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}

Pont-Saint-Esprit has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa). The average annual temperature in Pont-Saint-Esprit is {{cvt|14.2|C}}. The average annual rainfall is {{cvt|829.8|mm}} with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around {{cvt|23.9|C}}, and lowest in January, at around {{cvt|5.5|C}}. The highest temperature ever recorded in Pont-Saint-Esprit was {{cvt|42.2|C}} on 6 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was {{cvt|-12.7|C}} on 7 January 1985.

{{Weather box|width=auto

|location = Pont-Saint-Esprit (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1972−present)

|single line = Y

|metric first = Y

|collapsed= Y

|Jan record high C = 19.9

|Feb record high C = 23.2

|Mar record high C = 27.0

|Apr record high C = 30.0

|May record high C = 34.4

|Jun record high C = 39.3

|Jul record high C = 40.1

|Aug record high C = 42.2

|Sep record high C = 36.0

|Oct record high C = 29.5

|Nov record high C = 23.5

|Dec record high C = 20.0

|Jan record low C = -12.7

|Feb record low C = -10.2

|Mar record low C = -7.7

|Apr record low C = -1.4

|May record low C = 1.6

|Jun record low C = 5.0

|Jul record low C = 8.0

|Aug record low C = 7.1

|Sep record low C = 4.0

|Oct record low C = -0.2

|Nov record low C = -5.0

|Dec record low C = -7.2

|Jan high C = 9.1

|Feb high C = 11.0

|Mar high C = 15.7

|Apr high C = 18.9

|May high C = 23.4

|Jun high C = 27.4

|Jul high C = 30.6

|Aug high C = 30.4

|Sep high C = 24.8

|Oct high C = 19.3

|Nov high C = 13.1

|Dec high C = 9.6

|year high C = 19.4

|Jan mean C = 5.5

|Feb mean C = 6.5

|Mar mean C = 10.3

|Apr mean C = 13.1

|May mean C = 17.3

|Jun mean C = 21.1

|Jul mean C = 23.9

|Aug mean C = 23.7

|Sep mean C = 19.1

|Oct mean C = 14.8

|Nov mean C = 9.4

|Dec mean C = 6.1

|year mean C = 14.2

|Jan low C = 1.8

|Feb low C = 2.1

|Mar low C = 5.0

|Apr low C = 7.4

|May low C = 11.2

|Jun low C = 14.7

|Jul low C = 17.1

|Aug low C = 17.1

|Sep low C = 13.4

|Oct low C = 10.2

|Nov low C = 5.6

|Dec low C = 2.6

|year low C = 9.0

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 67.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 43.9

|Mar precipitation mm = 47.0

|Apr precipitation mm = 67.3

|May precipitation mm = 64.3

|Jun precipitation mm = 48.6

|Jul precipitation mm = 39.9

|Aug precipitation mm = 47.2

|Sep precipitation mm = 109.1

|Oct precipitation mm = 117.6

|Nov precipitation mm = 118.2

|Dec precipitation mm = 58.9

|year precipitation mm = 829.8

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 6.1

|Feb precipitation days = 5.1

|Mar precipitation days = 5.1

|Apr precipitation days = 6.8

|May precipitation days = 6.7

|Jun precipitation days = 5.1

|Jul precipitation days = 3.7

|Aug precipitation days = 4.2

|Sep precipitation days = 5.7

|Oct precipitation days = 7.3

|Nov precipitation days = 8.1

|Dec precipitation days = 6.4

|year precipitation days = 70.3

|source 1 = Météo-France{{cite web

| url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_30202002.pdf

| title=Fiche Climatologique Statistiques 1991-2020 et records

| language = fr

| publisher = Météo-France

| access-date = September 3, 2022}}}}

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.

{{main|1951 Pont-Saint-Esprit mass poisoning}}

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.{{cite journal|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4732.650|author=Gabbai, Lisbonne and Pourquier|date=1951-09-15|title=Ergot Poisoning at Pont St. Esprit|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=2|issue=4732|pages=650–651|pmc=2069953|pmid=14869677}} Most academic sources accept naturally occurring ergot poisoning in rye flour as the cause of the epidemic, while a few theorize other causes such as poisoning by mercury, mycotoxins, or nitrogen trichloride.{{cite journal|doi=10.1136/bmj.2.4732.650|first=Gabbai|last=Lisbonne|date=15 September 1951|title=Ergot Poisoning at Pont St. Esprit|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=2|issue=4732|pages=650–651|pmc=2069953|pmid=14869677}}{{cite book|last=Finger|first=Stanley|title=Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations Into Brain Function|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_GMeW9E1IB4C&pg=PA221|access-date=24 February 2013|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-514694-3|page=221}}{{cite book|last1=Pommerville|first1=Jeffrey C.|last2=Alcamo|first2=I. Edward|title=Alcamo's Fundamentals of Microbiology: Body systems edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uf_Hl3Exti8C&pg=PA734|access-date=24 February 2013|year=2013|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers|isbn=978-1-4496-0594-0|page=734}}{{cite book|editor1-first=Simonetta|editor1-last=Cavaciocchi|series=Istituto internazionale di storia economica F. Datini. Settimana di studio|title=Economic and biological interactions in pre-industrial Europe, from the 13th to the 18th century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeyGOrJ7jjIC&pg=PA82|access-date=24 February 2013|year=2010|publisher=Firenze University Press|isbn=978-88-8453-585-6|page=82}}{{cite book|author=Frederick Burwick|title=Poetic Madness and the Romantic Imagination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M39-oYlJce0C&pg=PA180|access-date=24 February 2013|date=1 November 2010|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0-271-04296-1|pages=180–}}

{{Historical populations

|align = none

|cols = 2

|percentages = pagr

|source = EHESS{{Cassini-Ehess|27609|Pont-Saint-Esprit}} and INSEE (1968-2017)[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-30202#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE

|graph-pos = bottom

|1793 |5766

|1800 |4055

|1806 |4331

|1821 |4545

|1831 |4853

|1836 |4937

|1841 |5239

|1846 |5375

|1851 |5538

|1856 |5887

|1861 |5123

|1866 |4694

|1872 |4350

|1876 |4826

|1881 |4726

|1886 |4962

|1891 |5262

|1896 |4289

|1901 |4798

|1906 |4906

|1911 |4685

|1921 |5801

|1926 |4409

|1931 |4652

|1936 |4411

|1946 |4149

|1954 |4925

|1962 |5778

|1968 |6951

|1975 |6709

|1982 |8067

|1990 |9277

|1999 |9265

|2007 |9846

|2012 |10651

|2017 |10336

}}

Pont-Saint-Esprit is twinned with:

• {{Flagicon|Germany}} Egelsbach, Germany
• {{Flagicon|United Kingdom}} Haverhill, United Kingdom
• {{Flagicon|Portugal}} Penacova, Portugal

• Michel Bouvier (1792–1874), carpenter and French American immigrant to Philadelphia{{Cite web |title=Michel Bouvier (1792-1874) - HouseHistree |url=https://househistree.com/people/michel-bouvier |access-date=2024-09-10 |website=househistree.com}}
• Joseph Di Mambro (1924–1994), French cult leader{{Cite book |last1=Bédat |first1=Arnaud |author-link=Arnaud Bédat |title=L'Ordre du Temple Solaire: Enquête et révélations sur les chevaliers de l'apocalypse |title-link=Les Chevaliers de la mort |last2=Bouleau |first2=Gilles |author-link2=Gilles Bouleau |last3=Nicolas |first3=Bernard |date=1997 |publisher=Libre Expression |isbn=978-2-89111-707-4 |location=Montreal |page=26 |language=fr}}

==See also==

• Communes of the Gard department

{{Reflist|2}}

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

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.ot-pont-saint-esprit.fr/ Tourism office website]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tg1y1 Document] BBC Radio 4 programme on the Le Pain Maudit

{{Gard communes}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontsaintesprit}}

Category:Communes of Gard

Category:Populated places on the Rhône

Category:Populated riverside places in France