Pontgibaud () is a
commune in the
Puy-de-Dôme départment
A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level divi ...
in
Auvergne in central
France.
It is located in the
Massif Central region of
France on the banks of the river
Sioule. The area around the town was historically known for silver and lead
mining.
The
Société des mines et fonderies de Pontgibaud exploited the lead-silver mines between 1852 and 1897.
The remnants of
Château-Dauphin, a 12th-century castle, are located in Pontgibaud.
John Ruskin spent October 7, 1840 exploring Pontgibaud. He reckoned it "Altogether the happiest day, as far as employment or scenery can go, I have had for these long five years".
[The Dairies of John Ruskin. Selected and edited by Joan Evans and John Howard Whitehouse. Vol 1. (1835 to 1847). Oxford at The Clarendon Press. 1956.
]
Notable people
*
Anna Garcin-Mayade, painter and member of the
French Resistance
See also
*
Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department
References
Communes of Puy-de-Dôme
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