Auch

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For the bird, see great auk. For the European surname, see Auch (name).

Auch
Prefecture and commune
Cathedral
Cathedral
Coat of arms of Auch
Coat of arms
Location of Auch
Auch is located in France
Auch
Auch
Coordinates: 43°38′47″N 0°35′08″E / 43.6465°N 0.5855°E / 43.6465; 0.5855Coordinates: 43°38′47″N 0°35′08″E / 43.6465°N 0.5855°E / 43.6465; 0.5855
CountryFrance
RegionOccitanie
DepartmentGers
ArrondissementAuch
CantonAuch-1, Auch-2, Auch-3
Intercommunality
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Christian Laprébende
Area
1
72.48 km2 (27.98 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2018)[1]
22,200
 • Density310/km2 (790/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
32013 /32000
Elevation115–281 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.

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.

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[]

hideClimate 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[]

See also: Ausci and archdiocese of Auch
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 8,444—    
1800 7,696−1.32%
1806 8,918+2.49%
1821 9,670+0.54%
1831 9,801+0.13%
1841 10,867+1.04%
1846 12,323+2.55%
1851 12,141−0.30%
1856 12,001−0.23%
1861 11,899−0.17%
1866 12,500+0.99%
1872 13,087+0.77%
1876 13,785+1.31%
1881 14,186+0.58%
1886 15,090+1.24%
1891 14,782−0.41%
1896 14,838+0.08%
1901 13,939−1.24%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1906 13,526−0.60%
1911 13,638+0.17%
1921 11,825−1.42%
1926 12,272+0.74%
1931 12,567+0.48%
1936 13,313+1.16%
1946 15,253+1.37%
1954 16,382+0.90%
1962 18,918+1.82%
1968 21,462+2.13%
1975 23,185+1.11%
1982 23,258+0.04%
1990 23,136−0.07%
1999 21,838−0.64%
2007 21,704−0.08%
2012 21,960+0.23%
2017 21,935−0.02%
2018 22,200+1.21%
Source: EHESS[3] and INSEE (1968-2017)[4]

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[5] or Elimberris.[6] 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.[citation needed] Following their conquest,[when?] 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.

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),

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[]

  1. ^ "Populations légales 2018". INSEE. December 28, 2020.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Auch, EHESS. (in French)
  4. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  5. ^ "Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878). "Auch" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 67.
  6. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Auch" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 892–893.

External links[]


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