You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (December 2008) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
View a machine-translated version of the French article.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Pont-Farcy]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|Pont-Farcy}} to the talk page.
Pont-Farcy has its origins in Gallo-Roman times: the town has always been an important crossing place due to its bridge over the River Vire. It was also passed through by the Dukes of Normandy. It is likely that some of the families who settled in Cheshire after 1066 came from the area.[4] Before the 20th century, there is little evidence to suggest the village held much more than peasants; it probably wasn't considered a particularly important spot, as Saint-Sever-Calvados was. During the 20th century, the village became a thriving river port, and a tow path for barges starts here and reaches as far as the Baie de Seine and the Normandy landing beaches. The village originally had a railway bridge over the Vire, but this was blown up by the Nazis upon their retreat from the village in 1944. Pont-Farcy was liberated by the American 35th Infantry Division on 2 August 1944.
In the latter half of the 20th century the population has dropped from nearly 1,000 to about 500, although in recent years it has grown slightly. This has a lot to do with the Autoroute which passes just north of the village.
Pont-Farcy is a small rural village, surrounded by many small hamlets (some of which are no more than a single farm); sizable settlements neighbouring Pont-Farcy are named above. Pont-Farcy has a petrol station, a bar and newsagents, a hotel and restaurant called "Le Coq Hardi", a church with graveyard and a separate cemetery, the latter of which practices the French custom of naming the living on the tombstones (leaving the year of death blank). There is also a campsite along the banks of the River Vire, with an outdoor pursuits centre from which bikes and canoes can be hired.