Auch (French pronunciation: [ᴐʃ] ; Gascon: Aush [ˈawʃ]) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department.
Auch | |
|---|---|
Prefecture and commune | |
 Cathedral | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Auch  | |
  Auch  Auch | |
| Coordinates: 43°38′47″N 0°35′08″E / 43.6465°N 0.5855°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Occitania |
| Department | Gers |
| Arrondissement | Auch |
| Canton | Auch-1, Auch-2, Auch-3 |
| Intercommunality | CA Grand Auch Cœur Gascogne |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Christian Laprébende[1] |
Area 1 | 72.48 km2 (27.98 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[2] | 23,041 |
| • Density | 320/km2 (820/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 32013 /32000 |
| Elevation | 115–281 m (377–922 ft) (avg. 166 m or 545 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Geography
editLocalization
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The commune of Auch is located in the arrondissement of Auch and in the Gers valley, roughly in the centre of the Gers département. Auch is 69 kilometres (43 miles) west of Toulouse, the capital of the Occitanie region, and 74 kilometres (46 miles)from Montauban, 63 kilometres (39 miles) from Agen, 92 kilometres (57 miles) from Mont-de-Marsan, 86 kilometres (53 miles) from Pau and 62 kilometres (39 miles) from Tarbes, the capitals of the neighbouring départements. It is 162 km from Bordeaux, 390 kilometres (240 miles) from Marseille and 409 kilometres (254 miles) from Lyon, the capitals of the neighbouring regions, and 595 kilometres (370 miles)south-west of Paris.[3]
The commune covers an area of 7,248 hectares (17,910 acres).[4]
Surrounding communes
editAuch borders thirteen other communes: Barran, Castillon-Massas, Castin, Duran, Lasséran, Leboulin, Montaut-les-Créneaux, Montégut, Ordan-Larroque, Pavie, Pessan, Preignan and Roquelaure.
Geology and relief
editAuch has a minimum altitude of 115 metres (377 ft) and a maximum of 281 metres (922 ft). Its average altitude is 198 metres (650 ft), while that of its town hall is 134 metres (440 ft)[5] The town and its surroundings have a hillside landscape.[6]
The commune covers an area of 7,248 hectares (17,910 acres), making it the third largest in the département.[7]
Centred on the middle Baïse valley, Armagnac is distributed along an east-west axis between Eauze and Auch. It includes Fezensac and Vic.
The commune is located in seismicity zone 1 (very low seismicity).[8]
Hydrography
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The Gers, a tributary of the Garonne, flows through the town and divides the city between the upper town, on the left bank, the site of the medieval city built on a hill where most of the ancient monuments are to be found, and the lower town, built on the plain on the right bank. The upper town is linked to the banks of the Gers by the medieval "pousterles", typical narrow streets with steep inclines, and by the monumental staircase inaugurated in 1863. The north of the town is also watered by the Arçon and Talouch rivers, tributaries of the Gers.
The lower town was devastated on several occasions (1897, 1952 for the most significant river overflow) before the course of the Gers was recalibrated following the 1977 floods in Gascony.[9]
Transportation
editAuch is well connected to nearby cities and towns such as Agen, Toulouse and Tarbes by Routes Nationales and by train to Toulouse.
Climate
edit| Climate data for Auch (1991–2020 averages, extremes 1985–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 20.9 (69.6) |
25.2 (77.4) |
27.8 (82.0) |
29.4 (84.9) |
33.7 (92.7) |
39.4 (102.9) |
39.6 (103.3) |
42.6 (108.7) |
38.0 (100.4) |
34.2 (93.6) |
26.5 (79.7) |
21.8 (71.2) |
42.6 (108.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 10.2 (50.4) |
11.7 (53.1) |
15.3 (59.5) |
17.8 (64.0) |
21.5 (70.7) |
25.4 (77.7) |
27.8 (82.0) |
28.2 (82.8) |
24.8 (76.6) |
20.0 (68.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
10.8 (51.4) |
18.9 (66.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.9 (42.6) |
6.6 (43.9) |
9.6 (49.3) |
12.1 (53.8) |
15.8 (60.4) |
19.5 (67.1) |
21.6 (70.9) |
21.8 (71.2) |
18.4 (65.1) |
14.6 (58.3) |
9.3 (48.7) |
6.4 (43.5) |
13.5 (56.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.6 (34.9) |
1.5 (34.7) |
3.9 (39.0) |
6.5 (43.7) |
10.1 (50.2) |
13.6 (56.5) |
15.4 (59.7) |
15.4 (59.7) |
12.0 (53.6) |
9.1 (48.4) |
4.7 (40.5) |
2.1 (35.8) |
8.0 (46.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −20.0 (−4.0) |
−13.6 (7.5) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−4.4 (24.1) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
2.6 (36.7) |
7.3 (45.1) |
3.6 (38.5) |
2.5 (36.5) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−12.4 (9.7) |
−20.0 (−4.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 62.0 (2.44) |
45.8 (1.80) |
49.5 (1.95) |
64.2 (2.53) |
72.9 (2.87) |
58.6 (2.31) |
55.1 (2.17) |
56.2 (2.21) |
53.0 (2.09) |
55.8 (2.20) |
64.1 (2.52) |
58.6 (2.31) |
695.8 (27.39) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 10.2 | 7.9 | 8.7 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 7.7 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 8.8 | 10.4 | 9.6 | 104.4 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 89.2 | 115.0 | 167.5 | 180.3 | 200.7 | 213.4 | 239.5 | 231.4 | 203.3 | 152.1 | 98.7 | 84.9 | 1,975.9 |
| Source: Météo France[10] | |||||||||||||
History and population
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| Source: EHESS[11] and INSEE (1968-2017)[12] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Auch is a very ancient town, whose settlement was noted by the Romans during their conquest of the area in the 50s BC. At that time, it was settled by an Aquitanian tribe known to the Romans as the Ausci. Their name for the town was Climberrum[13] or Elimberris.[14] This has been tentatively etymologized from the Iberian iltir ("town, oppidum") and a cognate of the Basque berri ("new"), although another Iberian settlement in Granada recorded by the Romans as "Iliberi" probably had no contact with proto-Basque speaking peoples.[15] The Romans renamed the town Augusta Auscorum or Ausciorum ("Augusta of the Ausci"). Augusta Auscorum was one of the twelve civitates of the province of Novempopulana (Gascony) and became the provincial capital after the 409 destruction of Eauze by the Vandals.
The common term Augusta was eventually[when?] dropped and the name evolved into the modern Gascon Aush and French Auch.
In 732, Abdul Rahman's army inflicted severe damage upon the town as they advanced towards Bordeaux, securing victory over Odo in the Battle of the River Garonne, and ultimately meeting defeat in the crucial Battle of Tours.
The town became the seat of a Catholic archdiocese which lasted until the French Revolution. Its archbishops claimed the title of Primate of Aquitaine, Novempopulana, and Navarre.
Sites of interest
edit- Renaissance Cathédrale Sainte-Marie with its magnificent organ, carved stalls and rose stained-glass windows
- La Tour d'Armagnac, a 14th-century prison, as well as a statue of d'Artagnan who was based on the real life person, Charles de Batz, Comte d'Artagnan born nearby in the château de Castelmore, and written about by Alexandre Dumas.
- Musée des Amériques (Auch), formerly known as the Musée des Jacobins
- Maison Henri IV (Auch)
- Escalier monumental Built in the 19th century
Notable people
editAuch was the birthplace of:
- Jacques Fouroux (1947–2005), rugby union player
- Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (1750–1812), admiral
- Dominic Serres (1719–1793), painter
- Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964), Dominican and prominent Neo-Thomist theologian
- Nicolas Portal (1979–2020), Professional cyclist for AG2R Prévoyance and Director Sportif of World Tour cycling team Ineos (ne Sky)
- Patrick Pilet (born 1981), racing driver
- André Daguin (1935–2019), chef
See also
edit- Gascony Show – English language radio in Auch
- Communes of the Gers department
References
edit- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ "Recherche d'orthodromie depuis Auch [Search for orthodromy from Auch]". le site lion1906 de Lionel Delvarre. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "Auch : population, superficie, chômage, chiffres et informations essentielles [Auch: population, surface area, unemployment, key figures and information]". Libération (in French). Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "PLAN AUCH - Plan, carte et relief d'Auch 32810 ou 32000 [Plan, map and relief of Auch 32810 or 32000]". cartesfrance.fr (in French). Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "paysages du gers [landscapes of the gers]". arbreetpaysage32.free.fr. Retrieved 17 March 2024..
- ^ Répertoire géographique des communes [Geographical directory of municipalities], published by IGN
- ^ Plan séisme
- ^ Lambert, Roger; Vigneau, Jean-Pierre (1981). "Les inondations catastrophiques de juillet 1977 en Gascogne. Étude géographique d'une situation. Problèmes de prévision et de prévention [The catastrophic floods of July 1977 in Gascony. Geographical study of a situation. Forecasting and prevention problems]". Annales de Géographie.
- ^ "Auch (32)" (PDF). Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records (in French). Meteo France. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Auch, EHESS (in French).
- ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
- ^ "Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 67.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 892–893.
- ^ Leopold von Ranke: Französische Geschichte. Essen 1996. p.182. [in German]
External links
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- Official website (in French)
- Unofficial website about Auch (in French)