Auch (; ) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of Occitanie, it is the capital of the

Gers Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...

department.

Geography

Localization

The commune of Auch is located in the arrondissement of Auch and in the

valley, roughly in the centre of the

département. Auch is west of

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, the capital of the Occitanie region, and from

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

, from

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

, from

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Gascon dialect, Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a communes of France, commune and capital of the Landes (department), Landes Departments of France, department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Milit ...

, from Pau and from

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of southwestern France. It is ...

, the capitals of the neighbouring départements. It is 162 km from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and from

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, the capitals of the neighbouring regions, and south-west of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The commune covers an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of .

Surrounding communes

Auch 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

Auch has a minimum altitude of and a maximum of . Its average altitude is , while that of its town hall is The town and its surroundings have a hillside landscape. The commune covers an area of , making it the third largest in the département. Centred on the middle

Baïse The Baïse (; ) is a long river in south-western France, left tributary of the Garonne. Its source is in the foothills of the Pyrenees, near Lannemezan. It flows north through the following ''département in France, départements'' and towns: * Ha ...

valley,

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac (region), Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni ...

is distributed along an east-west axis between

Eauze Eauze (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Eusa'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gers Departments of France, department in southwestern France. History Located in the heart of south-west France, 130 kilometers from the Spanish border, Eauze i ...

and Auch. It includes Fezensac and Vic. The commune is located in seismicity zone 1 (very low seismicity).

Hydrography

The

, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

, flows through the town and divides the city between the upper town, on the left bank, the site of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

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.

Transportation

Auch is well connected to nearby cities and towns such as

and

by Routes Nationales and by

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

Climate

History and population

Auch is a very ancient town, whose settlement was noted by the Romans during their conquest of the area in the . At that time, it was settled by an

Aquitani The Aquitani were a tribe that lived in the region between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Garonne, in present-day southwestern France in the 1st century BC. The Romans dubbed this region '' Gallia Aquitania''. Classical authors suc ...

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

") 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 Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

recorded by the Romans as "Iliberi" probably had no contact with proto-Basque speaking peoples.Leopold von Ranke: Französische Geschichte. Essen 1996. p.182. n German/ref> 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 an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Novempopulana (

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

) and became the provincial capital after the 409 destruction of

by the

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

s. The common term Augusta was eventually 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

, 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 Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

, Novempopulana, and

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

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 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 Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

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

Notable people

Auch was the birthplace of: * Jacques Fouroux (1947–2005),

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player * Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (1750–1812),

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Dominic Serres Dominic Serres ( 4 November 1793) was a French-born British painter who specialised in marine art. He co-founded the Royal Academy (RA) in 1768, and served as the RA's librarian from 1792 until his death. Life and works He was born in Auch ...

(1719–1793), painter * Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (1877–1964), Dominican and prominent Neo-Thomist theologian *

Nicolas Portal Nicolas Portal (23 April 1979 – 3 March 2020) was a French directeur sportif and professional road bicycle racer. He was born in Auch, France. He missed much of the 2009 season because of problems with cardiac arrhythmia and retired as a prof ...

(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

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

Geography

Localization

Surrounding communes

Geology and relief

Hydrography

Transportation

Climate

History and population

Sites of interest

Notable people

See also

References

External links