Auch
title: "Auch" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["communes-of-gers", "prefectures-in-france", "auscii", "gallia-aquitania", "armagnac"] topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auch" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox French commune"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Auch |
| commune status | Prefecture and commune |
| image | Auch1.jpg |
| caption | Cathedral |
| image coat of arms | Blason Auch 32.svg |
| arrondissement | Auch |
| canton | Auch-1, Auch-2, Auch-3 |
| INSEE | 32013 |
| postal code | 32000 |
| mayor | Christian Laprébende |
| term | 2020–2026 |
| intercommunality | CA Grand Auch Cœur Gascogne |
| coordinates | |
| elevation m | 166 |
| elevation min m | 115 |
| elevation max m | 281 |
| area km2 | 72.48 |
| population | |
| population date | |
| population footnotes | |
| :: |
|name = Auch |commune status = Prefecture and commune |image = Auch1.jpg |caption = Cathedral |image coat of arms = Blason Auch 32.svg |arrondissement = Auch |canton = Auch-1, Auch-2, Auch-3 |INSEE = 32013 |postal code = 32000 |mayor = Christian Laprébende |term = 2020–2026 |intercommunality = CA Grand Auch Cœur Gascogne |coordinates = |elevation m = 166 |elevation min m = 115 |elevation max m = 281 |area km2 = 72.48 |population = |population date = |population footnotes =
Auch (; ) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department.
Geography
Localization
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Auch_OSM_01.png" caption="'''OpenStreetMap'''"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Auch_OSM_02.png" caption="'''Topographic map'''"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Auch_OSM_03.png" caption="'''Auch and its surrounding communes'''"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Map_commune_FR_insee_code_32013.png" caption="'''Auch and its surrounding communes'''"] ::
The commune of Auch is located in the arrondissement of Auch and in the Gers valley, roughly in the centre of the Gers département. Auch is 69 km west of Toulouse, the capital of the Occitanie region, and 74 kmfrom Montauban, 63 km from Agen, 92 km from Mont-de-Marsan, 86 km from Pau and 62 km from Tarbes, the capitals of the neighbouring départements. It is 162 km from Bordeaux, 390 km from Marseille and 409 km from Lyon, the capitals of the neighbouring regions, and 595 kmsouth-west of Paris.
The commune covers an area of 7,248 ha.
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 115 m and a maximum of 281 m. Its average altitude is 198 m, while that of its town hall is 134 m The town and its surroundings have a hillside landscape.
The commune covers an area of 7,248 ha, making it the third largest in the département.
Centred on the middle Baïse valley, Armagnac is distributed along an east-west axis between Eauze and Auch. It includes Fezensac and Vic.
The commune is located in seismicity zone 1 (very low seismicity).
Hydrography
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/32013-Auch-Routes-Hydro.png" caption="Auch's drainage systems, road networks and street network."] ::
The Gers, a tributary of the Garonne, flows through the town and divides the city between the upper town, on the left bank, the site of the medieval 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 Agen, Toulouse and Tarbes by Routes Nationales and by train to Toulouse.
Climate
|width = auto |location = Auch (1991–2020 averages, extremes 1985–present) |metric first = Yes |single line = Yes |Jan record high C = 20.9 |Feb record high C = 25.2 |Mar record high C = 27.8 |Apr record high C = 29.4 |May record high C = 33.7 |Jun record high C = 39.4 |Jul record high C = 39.6 |Aug record high C = 42.6 |Sep record high C = 38.0 |Oct record high C = 34.2 |Nov record high C = 26.5 |Dec record high C = 21.8 |year record high C = 42.6 |Jan high C = 10.2 |Feb high C = 11.7 |Mar high C = 15.3 |Apr high C = 17.8 |May high C = 21.5 |Jun high C = 25.4 |Jul high C = 27.8 |Aug high C = 28.2 |Sep high C = 24.8 |Oct high C = 20.0 |Nov high C = 13.9 |Dec high C = 10.8 |year high C = 18.9 |Jan mean C = 5.9 |Feb mean C = 6.6 |Mar mean C = 9.6 |Apr mean C = 12.1 |May mean C = 15.8 |Jun mean C = 19.5 |Jul mean C = 21.6 |Aug mean C = 21.8 |Sep mean C = 18.4 |Oct mean C = 14.6 |Nov mean C = 9.3 |Dec mean C = 6.4 |year mean C = 13.5 |Jan low C = 1.6 |Feb low C = 1.5 |Mar low C = 3.9 |Apr low C = 6.5 |May low C = 10.1 |Jun low C = 13.6 |Jul low C = 15.4 |Aug low C = 15.4 |Sep low C = 12.0 |Oct low C = 9.1 |Nov low C = 4.7 |Dec low C = 2.1 |year low C = 8.0 |Jan record low C = -20.0 |Feb record low C = -13.6 |Mar record low C = -10.5 |Apr record low C = -4.4 |May record low C = -0.8 |Jun record low C = 2.6 |Jul record low C = 7.3 |Aug record low C = 3.6 |Sep record low C = 2.5 |Oct record low C = -3.5 |Nov record low C = -10.5 |Dec record low C = -12.4 |year record low C = -20.0 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 62.0 |Feb precipitation mm = 45.8 |Mar precipitation mm = 49.5 |Apr precipitation mm = 64.2 |May precipitation mm = 72.9 |Jun precipitation mm = 58.6 |Jul precipitation mm = 55.1 |Aug precipitation mm = 56.2 |Sep precipitation mm = 53.0 |Oct precipitation mm = 55.8 |Nov precipitation mm = 64.1 |Dec precipitation mm = 58.6 |year precipitation mm = 695.8 |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm |Jan precipitation days = 10.2 |Feb precipitation days = 7.9 |Mar precipitation days = 8.7 |Apr precipitation days = 10.0 |May precipitation days = 10.0 |Jun precipitation days = 7.7 |Jul precipitation days = 6.9 |Aug precipitation days = 6.6 |Sep precipitation days = 7.6 |Oct precipitation days = 8.8 |Nov precipitation days = 10.4 |Dec precipitation days = 9.6 |year precipitation days = 104.4 |Jan sun = 89.2 |Feb sun = 115.0 |Mar sun = 167.5 |Apr sun = 180.3 |May sun = 200.7 |Jun sun = 213.4 |Jul sun = 239.5 |Aug sun = 231.4 |Sep sun = 203.3 |Oct sun = 152.1 |Nov sun = 98.7 |Dec sun = 84.9 |year sun = 1975.9 |source 1 = Météo France{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180416040935/https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_32013005.pdf | archive-date = 16 April 2018 | url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_32013005.pdf | title = Auch (32) | work = Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records | publisher = Meteo France | language = fr | access-date = 16 April 2018}}
History and population
| align = none | cols = 2 | percentages = pagr | source = EHESS and INSEE (1968-2017) | graph-pos = bottom |1793 |8444 |1800 |7696 |1806 |8918 |1821 |9670 |1831 |9801 |1841 |10867 |1846 |12323 |1851 |12141 |1856 |12001 |1861 |11899 |1866 |12500 |1872 |13087 |1876 |13785 |1881 |14186 |1886 |15090 |1891 |14782 |1896 |14838 |1901 |13939 |1906 |13526 |1911 |13638 |1921 |11825 |1926 |12272 |1931 |12567 |1936 |13313 |1946 |15253 |1954 |16382 |1962 |18918 |1968 |21462 |1975 |23185 |1982 |23258 |1990 |23136 |1999 |21838 |2007 |21704 |2012 |21960 |2017 |21935 |2018 |22200
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 or Elimberris. 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. 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 dropped and the name evolved into the modern Gascon Aush and French Auch.
In 732, during Abdul Rahman's advance towards Bordeaux in the Umayyad invasion of Gaul, the town was supposedly heavily shifted across the river to much of its present site to falter destruction.
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
- 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.
- , 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 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), 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
References
- (13 September 2022). "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises.
- "Recherche d'orthodromie depuis Auch [Search for orthodromy from Auch]".
- "Auch : population, superficie, chômage, chiffres et informations essentielles [Auch: population, surface area, unemployment, key figures and information]".
- "PLAN AUCH - Plan, carte et relief d'Auch 32810 ou 32000 [Plan, map and relief of Auch 32810 or 32000]".
- "paysages du gers [landscapes of the gers]".
- ''Répertoire géographique des communes'' [Geographical directory of municipalities], published by [[Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière. IGN]]
- [http://planseisme.brgm.fr/spip.php?page=didacticiel3&code_insee=32013 Plan séisme]
- (1981). "Les inondations catastrophiques de juillet 1977 en Gascogne. Étude géographique d'une situation. Problèmes de prévision et de prévention [The catastrophic floods of July 1977 in Gascony. Geographical study of a situation. Forecasting and prevention problems]". [[Annales de Géographie]].
- Dogon, Cathy. (2023-07-31). "Bus, train, vélo… les défis de SNCF Connect".
- {{Cassini-Ehess. 1709. Auch
- [https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-32013#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE
- "{{Cite EB9
- {{cite EB1911
- Leopold von Ranke: Französische Geschichte. Essen 1996. p.182. [in German]
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::