Auxerre

Auxerre

Auxerre

Prefecture and commune in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

For the football club, see AJ Auxerre.

Auxerre (/oʊˈsɛər/ oh-SAIR,[3] French: [osɛʁ] ⓘ) is the capital (prefecture) of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Paris. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000;[4] the urban area (aire d'attraction) comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants.[5] Residents of Auxerre are referred to as Auxerrois.

Quick Facts Country, Region ...

Auxerre is a commercial and industrial centre, with industries including food production, woodworking and batteries. It is also noted for its production of Burgundy wine, including Chablis. In 1995 Auxerre was named a "Town of Art and History".[6]

Geography

Auxerre lies on the river Yonne and the Canal du Nivernais, about 150 km southeast of Paris and 120 km northwest of Dijon. The A6 autoroute (Paris–Lyon) passes northeast of the city. Auxerre-Saint-Gervais station has rail connections to Dijon, Paris, Corbigny and Avallon.

History

Place Charles Lepère seen from rue du Temple

Auxerre was a flourishing Gallo-Roman centre, then called Autissiodorum, through which passed one of the main roads of the area, the Via Agrippa (1st century AD) which crossed the Yonne (Gallo-Roman Icauna) here. In the third century it became the seat of a bishop[7] and a provincial capital of the Roman Empire. In the 5th century it received a cathedral. In the late 11th-early 12th century the existing communities were included inside a new line of walls built by the feudal counts of Auxerre.

Bourgeois activities accompanied the traditional land and wine cultivations starting from the twelfth century, and Auxerre developed into a commune with a Town Hall of its own. The Burgundian city, which became part of France under King Louis XI, suffered during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. In 1567 it was captured by the Huguenots, and many of the Catholic edifices were damaged. The medieval ramparts were demolished in the 18th century.

In the 19th century numerous heavy infrastructures were built, including a railway station, a psychiatric hospital and the courts, and new quarters were developed on the right bank of the Yonne.

Until the early 20th century, Auxerre was one of the most prosperous cities in the department. But the local authorities of that period refused the railway that was subsequently set in the village of Migennes, and signed the economic decline of the town. [citation needed]

Demographics

More information Year, Pop. ...

Climate

More information Climate data for Auxerre (1981–2010), Month ...

Main sights

A view of Auxerre's old town with Saint-Germain Abbey in the background
Church of St. Pierre en Vallée, listed as monument
  • Cathedral of St. Étienne (11th–16th centuries). In Gothic style, it has three doorways with bas-reliefs. There are stained-glass windows in the choir and the apsidal chapel. The 11th-century crypt houses the remains of the former Romanesque cathedral.
  • Abbey of Saint-Germain, existing from the 6th century. The crypt has some of the oldest mural paintings in France, and houses the tomb of the bishops of Auxerre. There is a chapter room (12th century), a cellar (14th century) and a cloister (17th century).
  • The Clock Tower, in the Old Town
  • The church of St. Pierre en Vallée (17th–18th centuries), established over a 6th-century abbey. In late Gothic style, it has a tower similar to that of the cathedral. Portions of the decorations and inner chapels were financed by local winegrowers.
  • Church of St. Eusèbe, founded in the 7th century. The nave was rebuilt in the 13th century, while the tower is in Romanesque style.

Notable people

Specialties

Regional wines

The whole region of Burgundy produces over 200 million bottles per year.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Auxerre is twinned with:[15]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
  2. [2]
    "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. [3]
    Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  4. [4]
    Populations légales 2021, INSEE
  5. [5]
    Comparateur de territoire: Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 d'Auxerre (102), INSEE, 9 December 2020.
  6. [6]
    (in French) "Labellisation Pays d'art et d'histoire : l'Auxerrois prêt pour le grand oral au ministère de la culture", lyonne.fr, 22 November 2019.
  7. [7]
    Councils were held here in 578 and 1147.
  8. [8]
    Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Auxerre, EHESS (in French).
  9. [9]
    Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  10. [10]
    "Moyennes 1981/2010: Région Bourgogne" (in French). Météoclimat. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  11. [11]
    "STATION Auxerre" (in French). Météoclimat. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  12. [12]
    "Normes et records 1961-1990: Auxerre (89) - altitude 207m" (in French). Infoclimat. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  13. [13]
    Howard Eves (1990). An Introduction to the History of Mathematics (sixth ed.). Saunders College Publishing.
  14. [14]
    Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  15. [15]
    "Villes jumelées" (in French). Auxerre. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
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