Auch

:"This article is for the French town. For the bird see: great auk."French commune
nomcommune=Auch
Cathedral and town center
région=Midi-Pyrénées
département=Gers
arrondissement=Auch
canton=
insee=32013
cp=32000
maire=Claude Bétaille
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=Grand Auch
longitude= 0.5855
latitude= 43.6465
alt moy=166 m
alt mini=115 m
alt maxi=281 m
hectares=7,248
km²=72.48
sans=21,838
date-sans=1999
dens=301.3
date-dens=1999

Auch (pronounced IPA|/ɔʃ/ in French) (Gascon Occitan: "Aush", pronounced IPA|/awʃ/) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Midi-Pyrénées, it is the capital of the Gers department. 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 Aquitanian tribe that inhabited the area at the time of the Roman conquest in the 50s BC. The name of this tribe, as recorded by the Romans, was "Ausci" (pronounced IPA|/awski/ in Latin), singular "Auscus". Aquitanians spoke a language related to the old Basque language, and a striking fact is that the name "Ausci" seems related to the native name of the modern Basques, who call themselves "Euskal" (pronounced IPA|/ewskal/ 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 Iberian word "iltir"' or "iltur" (the "t" is mute) meaning town, city, oppidum, a frequent prefix in names of Iberian cities, and which was probably borrowed into Basque and also 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 "Aush", and modern French "Auch". Inhabitants of Auch are known in French as "Auscitains" (pronounced IPA|/ositɛ̃/)

Capital of Gascony

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

In 409, when Eauze, 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, the Archdiocese of Auch, covering the whole of Gascony, which lasted until the French Revolution, and whose archbishops claimed the title of Primate of Aquitaine, Novempopulana, and of the kingdom of Navarre.

ights

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.

Geography

The Gers River flows through the town.

Transportation

Auch is well connected to nearby cities and towns such as Agen, Toulouse and Tarbes by Routes Nationales.

Miscellaneous

Auch is a twin city for Memmingen (Germany).Auch is the home of FC Auch rugby union team.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

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

Auch is one of the three main cities in the MMORPG Granado Espada

External links

* [http://www.mairie-auch.fr/ Official website] (in French)
* [http://www.auch.tecomm.fr/ Unofficial website about Auch] (in French)