Pontey ( Valdôtain: ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

region of north-western

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Pontey is located on the right bank (''envers'') of the

Doire baltée Dora Baltea () or Doire Baltée () is a river in northwestern Italy. It is a left-hand tributary of the Po and is about long. Name The river's Latin name was ''Duria maior'', ''Duria Baltica'' or ''Duria Bautica''. Strabo called it Δουρ� ...

, the main river in the Aosta Valley, about 24 kilometers east of the regional capital

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of ...

Geography

Territory

The town is located at an altitude of 1722 ft (525 meters) above sea level, bordered by the towns of

Chambave Chambave ( Valdôtain: or ; Issime wae, Tschambuvu) is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of northwestern Italy. The communal territory is crossed by the Dora Baltea (french: Doire baltée). Wine Growers in Chambave produce se ...

, Saint-Denis, Châtillon and

Champdepraz Champdepraz ( frp, Tsandeprà, lit=field of meadows); is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of northwestern Italy. Geography The town is situated in the Champdepraz valley, a lateral valley of the Aosta Valley. The hydroelectr ...

and culminates with the top of the reaches ''Mont Ruvic'' in 9587 ft (2922 meters)
In the municipal area there are three streams called Molinaz, Eau-Noire (or ''Éve Née'' in Valdôtain patois, which means "Black Water") and Vau.

Climate

The location of the village on the right bank of the central valley (to ''envers'') means that it is subject to a microclimate very different countries sites on the left bank. Indeed, winter mountains in which the country is leaning maintain overshadow the country for 2 months from November 20 to January 30, for this reason the temperatures drop in a much more decisive and touch the 14 °F (−10 °C) during the day, with peaks at night in exceptional years of −22 °F (−30 °C). During the summer because of its location enjoys greater solar illumination compared to neighboring towns, and because of that the calculation of hours of sunshine throughout the year is substantially equal. The country is located in climate zone E (2971 Celsius Degrees Day) but under the regional contributions for heating all the municipalities of Aosta Valley are valued as climate zone F.

History

During the Fascist period, Pontey was merged to the municipality of Châtillon, at the time called ''Castiglione Dora'', due to the Italianization programme.
Later, the town was restored in 1946.

Origin of the name

The name probably derives from Latin "ponticulus", meaning "little bridge".

Monuments and places of interest

Religious Architecture

References to the church are in a

papal The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

of 1176 of

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

, which is part of the community

Diocese of Aosta french: Diocèse d'Aoste , image = Aosta Cattedrale.JPG , image_size = 255px , image_alt = Facade of Cathedral of Aosta , caption = Aosta Cathedral , country = Italy , metropolitan = , ...

. On the territory there are three church buildings: the parish church dedicated to St.

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...

and dated around 1400, the Chapel of the Holy Cross (formerly dedicated to St. Roch, located in the hamlet Banchet) and the chapel of Sorrows (Torin hamlet). file:Chiesa S Martino, Pontey.jpg, The parish church of St.

File:Chiesa_Pontey_abc1.JPG, The church near the town hall

Civil architectures

In Plan-Coca are the remains of

industrial archeology Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past. This evidence, collectively referred to as industrial heritage, includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, sites, infrastructure, docum ...

"Le grand fourneau", French for big furnace, a

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

dating from the eighteenth century, while in Ussert are located the remains of the "foundry" Gervasone.

Society

Demographics

Pontey had a little increase of its population at the beginning of the 1980s.

Languages and dialects

As in the rest of the Aosta Valley, in Pontey too is spoken the ''

Valdôtain dialect Valdôtain (; local dialect: ''Valdotèn'', ''Valdŏtèn'', ''Valdouhtan'') is a dialect of Arpitan (Franco-Provençal) spoken in the Aosta Valley in Italy. It is commonly known as ''patois'' or ''patoué''. Diffusion The Aosta Valley represe ...

''.

Infrastructure and transport

Education

The municipality has a primary school dedicated to Jean-André Arbenson and a kindergarten dedicated to Laurent-Samuel Henriod.

Sports Infrastructure

The town has a sports area multipurpose open on 3 May 2010, for the practice of Football 5,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. In the municipal area is also a climbing wall. Pontey Lassolaz - panneau bilingue

Roads

The road network of the municipality is made up of the Regional Road 10 from east to west to the junction between the villages of Banchet and Valérod, located near the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Pontey is connected with neighboring municipalities through two bridges on the

: on to the National Road 26 (

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

– La Thuile), and the other with Châtillon passing near the Châtillon railway station.

Administration

It is part of the Mountain Community Monte Cervino.

Note

Bibliography

* Fausta Baudin, Omar Borettaz, Rosella Obert, ''Pontey: storia e immagini di una comunità'', Aosta: Tipografia valdostana, 2002 * Damien Daudry, ''Segnalazione e documentazione fotografica del villaggio protostorico della Cime Noire'', in ''Bulletin d'études préhistoriques et archéologiques alpines'', fascicolo 16, 2005, pp. 157–176 * Mario Catalano, ''Santuario astronomico delle ruote cosmiche in Val Mariana'', 2002 * Pierre Daudry, ''A proposito di pietre solari e di una strada lastricata sulle alture di Pontey'', in ''Bulletin d'études préhistoriques alpines'', fascicolo 2, 1969/1970, pp. 183–188

External links

References

{{authority control Cities and towns in Aosta Valley