Auch
Auch (French pronunciation: [oʃ]; Gascon: Aush or Aux [awʃ]) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony.
Auch | |
|---|---|
Prefecture and commune | |
 Cathedral | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Auch 
| |
  Auch  Auch | |
| Coordinates: 43°38′47″N 0°35′08″E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Occitanie |
| Department | Gers |
| Arrondissement | Auch |
| Canton | Auch-1, Auch-2, Auch-3 |
| Intercommunality | CA Grand Auch Cœur Gascogne |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Christian Laprébende |
| Area 1 | 72.48 km2 (27.98 sq mi) |
| Population (2017-01-01)[1] | 21,935 |
| • Density | 300/km2 (780/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
Localization
Auch and its surrounding communes
Hydrography
The River Gers flows through the town.
Transportation
Auch is well connected to nearby cities and towns such as Agen, Toulouse and Tarbes by Routes Nationales.
Climate
| Climate data for Auch (1985–2010 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) |
24.3 (75.7) |
27.8 (82.0) |
29.4 (84.9) |
33.7 (92.7) |
38.4 (101.1) |
42.0 (107.6) |
40.9 (105.6) |
38.0 (100.4) |
31.2 (88.2) |
26.5 (79.7) |
21.8 (71.2) |
42.0 (107.6) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 9.7 (49.5) |
11.6 (52.9) |
14.9 (58.8) |
17.0 (62.6) |
21.4 (70.5) |
25.0 (77.0) |
27.7 (81.9) |
27.9 (82.2) |
24.6 (76.3) |
19.8 (67.6) |
13.3 (55.9) |
10.1 (50.2) |
18.6 (65.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.3 (41.5) |
6.6 (43.9) |
9.2 (48.6) |
11.5 (52.7) |
15.6 (60.1) |
19.0 (66.2) |
21.3 (70.3) |
21.4 (70.5) |
18.1 (64.6) |
14.4 (57.9) |
8.8 (47.8) |
5.9 (42.6) |
13.1 (55.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 1.0 (33.8) |
1.6 (34.9) |
3.6 (38.5) |
6.0 (42.8) |
9.8 (49.6) |
13.1 (55.6) |
15.0 (59.0) |
15.0 (59.0) |
11.6 (52.9) |
8.9 (48.0) |
4.3 (39.7) |
1.7 (35.1) |
7.7 (45.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −20.0 (−4.0) |
−13.6 (7.5) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
0.5 (32.9) |
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) | 56.2 (2.21) |
48.8 (1.92) |
49.7 (1.96) |
71.1 (2.80) |
68.4 (2.69) |
57.9 (2.28) |
51.9 (2.04) |
57.1 (2.25) |
54.6 (2.15) |
57.3 (2.26) |
60.2 (2.37) |
52.2 (2.06) |
685.4 (26.98) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 9.6 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 11.1 | 9.5 | 7.7 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 9.1 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 101.2 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 92.4 | 111.0 | 167.6 | 176.6 | 196.8 | 209.8 | 234.6 | 223.6 | 197.2 | 145.2 | 94.5 | 79.4 | 1,928.6 |
| Source: Météo France[2] | |||||||||||||
History and population
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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[3] or Elimberris.[4] 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. Following their conquest, 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 dropped and the name evolved into the modern Gascon Aush and French Auch.
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
Auch is known for its 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.
Notable people
Auch 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)
Literature
Auch is a location briefly mentioned in the M. R. James short ghost story "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book" published in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in 1904.
See also
- Gascony Show – English language radio in Auch
- Communes of the Gers department
References
- "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- "Auch (32)" (PDF). Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records (in French). Meteo France. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- "Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878). . Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 67.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 892–893.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Auch. |
- Official website (in French)
- Unofficial website about Auch (in French)
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Authority control  |
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