Auch: Guide

Auch (pronounced in /awʃ/) is a town and commune in France|commune in southwestern département. Auch is the historical capital of [[Gascony. At the 1999 census there were 24,725 inhabitants in the urban area of Auch.

History

The Ausci

Auch is a very ancient town. The name of Auch comes from the /awski/ in Latin), singular Auscus. Aquitanians spoke a language related to the old Basques, who call themselves Euskal (pronounced in Basque).

At the time of the Roman conquest, the native name of Auch, as recorded by the Romans, was Elimberris. Elimberris is itself a variant of Iliberri, where Ili- comes from the Aquitanian (cf. modern Basque hiri, meaning "town"). In modern Basque there is also the word berri which means "new", so Iliberri is often interpreted as meaning "new oppidum" (based on the fact that Aquitanian and old Basque are related). However, this interpretation should be taken with caution. In the south of [[Spain, near Granada, an area far away from the Basque homeland, there was an Iberian city whose name the Romans also recorded as Iliberi, and here it seems the name recorded by the Romans is the phonetic transcription of Iberian Ilbirir, which comes from the Iberian stem ilbi- (meaning unknown), and not at all from an hypothetical il(t)i- (town) and Basque berri.

The Romans renamed the town Augusta Auscorum (or Augusta Ausciorum), which means "Augusta of the Ausci". Eventually, Augusta was dropped, and the name evolved into modern Gascon language|Gascon Aush, and modern French Auch. Inhabitants of Auch are known in French as Auscitains (pronounced )

Capital of Gascony

During Roman times, Auch was one of the twelve civitates of the Roman province|province of Novempopulana (Gascony).

In 409, when Éauze, the capital of Novempopulana, was ruined by the Vandals, Auch replaced it as the capital of Gascony. It became the seat of a Catholic archdiocese, covering the whole of Gascony, which lasted until the French Revolution, and whose archbishops claimed the title of Primate (religion)|Primate of Aquitaine, Novempopulana, and of the kingdom of Navarre.

Sights

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, père|Alexandre Dumas.

Geography

The Gers River flows through the town.

Transportation

Auch is well connected to nearby city|cities and towns such as Agen, Toulouse and Tarbes by Route nationale (France)|Routes Nationales.

Miscellaneous

Auch is a town twinning|twin city for Memmingen (Germany).
Auch is the home of FC Auch rugby union team.
Auch was the birthplace of:
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (1750-1812), admiral
Dominic Serres (1719-1793), painter
Jacques Fouroux (1947-2005), rugby union player

Auch is also a European surname, possibly derived as a habitational name for some early inhabitants of the town, see also Auch (name).

External link

(in French)

This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Auch". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.