Auch (; oc, label= Gascon, Aush ) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in southwestern France. Located in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony.

Geography

Localization

Hydrography

The River Gers flows through the town.

Transportation

Auch is well connected to nearby cities and towns such as

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

and

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba ...

by Routes Nationales and by

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

Climate

History and population

Auch is a very ancient town, whose settlement was noted by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

during their conquest of the area in the . At that time, it was settled by an Aquitanian tribe known to the Romans as the Ausci. Their name for the town was Climberrum" or Elimberris. This has been tentatively etymologized from the Iberian ''iltir'' ("town,

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...

") and a cognate of the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

''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 A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Novempopulana Novempopulania (Latin for "country of the nine peoples") was one of the provinces created by Diocletian (Roman emperor from 284 to 305) out of Gallia Aquitania, which was also called ''Aquitania Tertia''. Early Roman period The area of Novemp ...

( Gascony) and became the provincial capital after the 409 destruction of

Eauze Eauze (; Gascon: ''Eusa'') is a commune in the Gers department in southwestern France. History Located in the heart of south-west France, 130 kilometers from the Spanish border, Eauze is originally a proto-Basque city that became Roman. It wa ...

by the

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

s. 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 The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. Its archbishops claimed the title of

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

, Novempopulana, and Navarre.

Sites of interest

*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 Charles de Batz de Castelmore (), also known as d'Artagnan and later Count d'Artagnan ( 1611 – 25 June 1673), was a French Musketeer who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard. He died at the siege of Maastricht in the ...

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. * , formerly known as the Musée des Jacobins * * Escalier monumental Built in the 19th century

Notable people

Auch was the birthplace of: *

Jacques Fouroux Jacques Fouroux (24 July 1947 – 17 December 2005) was a French rugby union player and coach. He captained France when they won the Grand Slam in 1977, and was the manager when the side repeated the feat in 1981 and 1987. Player Fouroux, who p ...

(1947–2005),

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player * Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (1750–1812), admiral * Dominic Serres (1719–1793), painter *

Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language. Etymology and history The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...

(1877–1964), Dominican and prominent

Neo-Thomist Neo-scholasticism (also known as neo-scholastic Thomism Accessed 27 March 2013 or neo-Thomism because of the great influence of the writings of Thomas Aquinas on the movement) is a revival and development of medieval scholasticism in Catholic t ...

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

Literature

Auch is a location briefly mentioned in the

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

short ghost story "

Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book" is a horror story by British writer M. R. James, which was written in 1894 and published the following year in the ''National Review''. It was included in his first short story collection, '' Ghost Stories of an Antiq ...

" published in '' Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' in 1904.

References

External links

Official website
(in French)
Unofficial website about Auch
(in French) {{Authority control Communes of Gers Prefectures in France Auscii Gallia Aquitania Armagnac