Paimpont

Paimpont
Penpont (Gallo)
Pempont (Breton)
Abbey
Location of Paimpont
Paimpont
Paimpont
Coordinates: 48°01′08″N 2°10′11″W / 48.0189°N 2.1697°W / 48.0189; -2.1697
CountryFrance
RegionBrittany
DepartmentIlle-et-Vilaine
ArrondissementRennes
CantonMontfort-sur-Meu
IntercommunalityBrocéliande
Government
  Mayor (20202026) Alain Lefeuvre
Area
1
110.28 km2 (42.58 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)
1,778
  Density16/km2 (42/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
35211 /35380
Elevation62–258 m (203–846 ft)
(avg. 160 m or 520 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Paimpont (French pronunciation: [pɛ̃pɔ̃]; Breton: Pempont; Gallo: Penpont) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.

The name is a compound of Old Breton pen "head" and the Latin borrowing pont "bridge" and is first attested in the 9th century in the Latinised form Caput Pontis and then in 870 CE as Penpont. The town grew up around the abbey of Our Lady of Paimpont, which was founded by the Breton king and Catholic saint Judicael in 645 CE on the shore of a small lake now known as the Étang de Paimpont.