Auxerre

Auxerre

Auxerre and Yonne river

Coat of arms
Auxerre

Coordinates: 47°47′55″N 3°34′02″E / 47.7986°N 3.5672°ECoordinates: 47°47′55″N 3°34′02″E / 47.7986°N 3.5672°E
Country France
Region Burgundy
Department Yonne
Arrondissement Auxerre
Intercommunality Auxerrois
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Guy Ferez
Area1 49.95 km2 (19.29 sq mi)
Population (2006)2 38,800
 • Density 780/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 89024 / 89000
Elevation 93–217 m (305–712 ft)
(avg. 102 m or 335 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Auxerre (French pronunciation: ​[oˈsɛʁ]) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth largest city in Burgundy. The city is located 1h30 to the southeast of Paris. Auxerre's population today is about 39,000;[1] the metropolitan area comprises roughly 92,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are referred to as Auxerrois.

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 world-famous Chablis. In 1995 Auxerre was named "Town of Art and History".

History

Clock Tower

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 River (Gallo-Roman Icauna) here. In the third century it became the seat of a bishop[2] 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.

Up until recently, Auxerre was one of the most prosperous cities in the country.

Old Slide

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.

Personalities


Specialties


Famous regional wines

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

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Auxerre is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Populations légales 2007 de la commune d’Auxerre, INSEE
  2. ↑ Councils were held here in 578 and 1147.
  3. ↑ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  4. ↑ Howard Eves (1990). An Introduction to the History of Mathematics (sixth ed.). Saunders College Publishing.
  5. ↑ "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd. Retrieved 2013-07-11.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Auxerre.