Pontorson is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Manche

Manche

Manche is a French department in Normandy named after La Manche , which is the French name for the English Channel.- History :Manche is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

 department in north-western France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Geography

Pontorson is situated about 10 kilometres from the Mount, to which it is connected by highway and a walking path along the river Couesnon

Couesnon

The Couesnon River is a river running from the département of Mayenne in north-western France, forming an estuary at Mont Saint-Michel. Its final stretch forms the border between the historical duchies of Normandy and Brittany...

. The river also gives its name to the town's main street.

History

The town was founded in the 12th century after a vow by William the Conqueror. It was home to a fortress, which was razed to the ground in 1623 by order of King Louis XIII of France

Louis XIII of France

Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...

.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, after the liberation of the area by Allied Forces in 1944, engineers of the Ninth Air Force

Ninth Air Force

The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....

 IX Engineering Command began construction of a combat Advanced Landing Ground

Advanced Landing Ground

Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...

 outside of the town. Declared operational on 10 August, the airfield was designated as "A-28

Pontorson Airfield

Pontorson Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located near the commune of Pontorson in the Basse-Normandie region of northern France....

", it was used by the 368th Fighter Group

368th Fighter Group

The 368th Fighter Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the XII Tactical Air Command stationed at Fliegerhorst Straubing , Germany. It was deactivated on 20 August 1946....

 which flew P-47 Thunderbolt

P-47 Thunderbolt

Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...

s until early September when the unit moved into Central France. Afterward, the airfield was closed.

Frantz Fanon

Frantz Fanon

Frantz Fanon was a Martiniquo-Algerian psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary and writer whose work is influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory and Marxism...

 practiced psychiatry at Pontorson in the early 1950's.

Main sights

• Notre-Dame church (11th-12th centuries). It is in Romanesque-transition Gothic
  Gothic architecture
  Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
  
   style; it has a massive appearance with a central portal, flanked by two towers.
• Old Protestant Temple (16th century)
• Guischard de la Ménardière house (also known as "Roman House", 11th-12th centuries)
• Residence of the counts of Montgomery

Transportation

Pontorson is home to the nearest SNCF

SNCF

The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...

 railway station to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

's second most popular tourist attraction, Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches...

.

Despite the town's role as a tourist gateway, train services are relatively rare, about three or four per day.