Auxerre is a French commune located in the north-west of the
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, in the department of Yonne, of which
it is the capital. Also centralizing office of four cantons and seat
of the agglomeration community of Auxerrois, it had 34,634
inhabitants at the last census in 2017 (legal population in force on
January 1, 2018), which makes it the first municipality in Icaun and
the fifth commune of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in terms of number of
inhabitants. Its urban area totaled nearly 93,000 inhabitants the
same year. The urban unit of Auxerre is the 146th most populous
urban unit in France with 43,000 inhabitants.
Auxerre is a
cultural and tourist capital, in the heart of Burgundy, in the Yonne
valley. The city has a medieval and Renaissance historical heritage.
City of art and history since 1995, Auxerre has thirty-five listed
or listed historical monuments, and three museums in France.
Auxerre is the main employment area in the department. The Auxerre
vineyard, the AOC Chablis vineyards, are a few kilometers from the
city. She is also known for her football club, the Auxerroise Youth
Association (AJA).
The city
received the City of Art and History label in 1995. Its historic
center is classified as an almost entirely protected area (67
hectares). It has a large number of houses from the Middle Ages -
especially in the neighborhoods closest to the Yonne, which are the
oldest, from the Renaissance, as well as a large number of
remarkable mansions from the 17th and 18th centuries (around the
Saint-Eusèbe church). According to the tourist office, the impact of
AJA’s European football matches is notable. Many foreign tourists
said they stopped in Auxerre because they had heard about the soccer
team.
Since 2013, Auxerre has been the seat of the Maison de
la Francophonie de Bourgogne.
The town center
is dotted with wooden sculptures painted by the artist François
Brochet. One of them represents the Auxerre poet Marie Noël. Others
depict scenes inspired by works by the writer Restif de la Bretonne,
originally from the surrounding area. These works are regularly
damaged and the originals had to be replaced. Note also the presence
of a fountain surmounted by a statue of Cadet Roussel, a character
from Auxerre. A large number of houses preserved in this part of the
city are half-timbered.
The Clock Tower features a
15th-century two-sided model (one of which is an after-original
copy) in pink and gold colors.
The statue of Paul Bert by
sculptor Émile Peynot, inaugurated on July 7, 1889, on the bridge of
the same name almost disappeared during the Second World War.
Indeed, the latter had been requisitioned by the Germans with the
aim of melting it in order to provide additional material for the
armament of the Wehrmacht. However, the mayor of Auxerre at the time
succeeded in making the occupants believe that the said statue was
hollow and therefore not very profitable if melted, which made it
possible to preserve it until the liberation of Auxerre, August 24,
1944.
The old suburbs also include some beautiful buildings,
such as the Hôtel de Sparre in the Saint-Gervais district (avenue
Gambetta), built in 1769 at a place called at the time Fleure-Boudin
by Joseph Magnus count of Sparre, marshal of camp of the royal
armies, on the plans of the Parisian architect Philippe Dullin
protected by the Duke of Aiguillon.
The
Saint-Germain Museum, housed in the former abbey of the same name,
houses the prehistoric, Gallo-Roman and medieval collections of the
city of Auxerre, as well as temporary exhibitions.
The
Leblanc-Duvernoy Museum, a family house rehabilitated into a museum,
presents Beauvais tapestries as well as a large collection of
Puisaye sandstone and regional and national earthenware.
The
Museum presents collections of local paleontology and temporary
exhibitions. The museum is dedicated to Paul Bert.
The Maison
de l'Eau et de l'Environnement, housed in a former water lifting
plant built in 1882 and remodeled in 1914, is dedicated to raising
public awareness of the preservation of the environment.
By plane
Paris-Orly Airport (IATA: ORY) is around 150 km from
Auxerre, which takes just under two hours by car and around three
hours by train.
By train
Auxerre-St Gervais train station
is on the east side of the Yonne, about 1 km from the city centre.
A regional train (TER) runs five times a day from Paris-Bercy
station to Auxerre, the journey time is approx. 1:45 hours. There
are other connections with one change in Migennes at
Laroche-Migennes station, where you have a direct connection and
therefore also overall only takes about 1:45 hours. From the Dijon
Ville train station in Dijon you can also get to Auxerre with one
change in Laroche-Migennes, the journey takes 1:50 to almost two
hours.
In the street
Auxerre is very close to the A6,
which connects Paris to Lyon. It is 170 km from the center of Paris,
which takes 1:45 to 2 hours with smooth traffic. It is 150 km from
Dijon to Auxerre and the journey usually takes 1½ hours. You can
also take the country road parallel to this, which takes about an
hour longer but takes you past sights such as Flavigny-sur-Ozerain,
the Celtic town of Alesia and Fontenay Abbey.
From southern
Germany or northern and central Switzerland, you drive from Freiburg
i. Br. or Basel on the French A 36, which you follow past Besançon
to Beaune. There you get on the A 6 in the direction of Paris, which
leads to Auxerre.
From central Germany you can take the
French A 4 near Saarbrücken, which you follow to
Chalons-en-Champagne. There you change to the A 26 to Troyes; at the
end of the road you take the A 5 towards Paris, which you leave
after 4 km at junction no. 21. From there it goes on the national
road N 77 to Auxerre.
Coming from north and north-west
Germany you drive through Belgium, you come to Charleville-Mézières
on the French A 34, which you follow to Reims, via the A 4 to
Chalons-en-Champagne, where you can change to the A 26, then
continue as above.
By boat
Auxerre is located on the
navigable river Yonne and at the starting point of the Canal du
Nivernais, which can be navigated by pleasure boats and houseboats.
By bicycle
Auxerre is the start and end point of the cycle
path along the Canal du Nivernais. A continuation to Migennes and
connection with the cycle path along the Canal de Bourgogne is
planned.
The wine from the Auxerre vineyards, namely the Chainette and the Pinot De Migraine, is one of the best wines in Burgundy.
Camping Municipal d'Auxerre, 8 Rte de Vaux, 89000 Auxerre (near the Parc de l'Arbre Sec and the "Yonne"). Tel.: +33 3 86 52 11 15, email: campingauxerre@orange.fr. Campsite located about 2 km from the center of town. Feature: ★★. Open: 04/01/2022 - 10/15/2022.
Auxerre, which in antiquity bore the name of Autessiodurum, was a
city of the Senones and is not yet mentioned by Caesar in his
commentaries; it seems to have gained importance only after the Roman
conquest of Gaul. In the imperial period it belonged to the Roman
province of Gallia Lugdunensis. A dedicatory inscription to Icauna, the
river goddess of the Yonne, was found here in the 18th century but is
now thought to be lost. The Via Agrippa also reached the settlement.
Ruins and other antiquities from the Gallo-Roman period survive to a
small extent.
The city had been the seat of a bishop since the
late 3rd century, who had been subordinate to the archbishopric of Sens
since the end of the 4th century. Saint Peregrinus (French Pelerin) is
named as the first bishop of Auxerre. Before the middle of the 5th
century, the city experienced its first economic and religious heyday
through the work of the bishop and troop leader Germanus von Auxerre. In
451 it was probably plundered by the Huns of Attila.
Auxerre
achieved international fame among experts in 1907 when an archaic statue
was found in the city's Musée Saint-Germain: the Lady of Auxerre.
In 486 Auxerre was snatched from the Romans by the Frankish King
Clovis. In the early Middle Ages it belonged to the Merovingian
possessions. It came first after Clovis' death (511) to Chlodomer, then
to Childebert I, Chlothar I, Guntram I and 613 to Chlothar II.
In
584, Bishop Aunaire (Aunacharius) held a council in Auxerre, about which
45 canons on church discipline provide information. In 695 there was a
council in the city under Bishop Tétrice advising on spiritual
functions. Other synods met here in 1020 and 1147, the latter under the
presidency of Gilbert Porretanus, Bishop of Poitiers.
In the 9th
century, Auxerre was the seat of a famous monastic school belonging to
the Abbey of Saint Germain. the scholars Heiricus and Remigius worked.
The county of Auxerre (Auxerrois) was fief of the Dukes of Burgundy
until 1005 and then, as a fief of the bishops of Auxerre, for almost two
centuries belonged to the House of Monceaux, Counts of Nevers. Landry
was the first of these Earls. In the 1160s, William IV had the city wall
extended, which now also surrounded monasteries and suburbs beyond the
earlier Roman fortifications. His brother Guido wanted to establish a
commune here in the early 1170s, but the bishop opposed this plan.
Guido's heiress Agnes married Peter II of Courtenay in 1184, later the
Latin Emperor of Constantinople. After a devastating fire, Auxerre
received a charter from Peter II in 1188. Peter also had the wall
started by Wilhelm IV completed. Peter's daughter Mathilde brought the
county of Hervé to Lord of Donzy and confirmed Auxerre in 1223 an
extended town charter.
By marriage, the county of Auxerre passed
successively to the Houses of Châtillon, Bourbon, Burgundy and Chalon.
In the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, the English and their
mercenaries attacked Auxerre in January 1358. They were initially
repelled, but already on March 10, 1358 they conquered the city and
plundered it. In 1370, John IV of Chalon sold the county of Auxerre to
the French King Charles V. Louis de Chalon contested the purchase, but
the parties to the dispute settled with King Charles VI at the beginning
of the 15th century.
In 1411, in the battle between the Armagnacs
and the Burgundians, the citizens of Auxerre sided with the Duke of
Burgundy, John the Fearless. On August 22, 1412, a peace treaty was
signed between the Dukes of Burgundy and Orléans under the presidency of
the Dauphin. In 1435 the county of Auxerre fell to Duke Philip the Good
of Burgundy by the Treaty of Arras. During the Ligue du Bien public, the
residents of Auxerre showed little zeal in complying with the urgent
requests of the Duke of Burgundy. After the death of Charles the Bold in
1477, the county of Auxerre finally fell to the French crown, albeit
with the opposition of Mary of Burgundy and later of Emperor Maximilian.
In the Peace of Madrid (1526) Auxerre had to be ceded to Emperor
Charles V, but returned to France in the peace treaties of Cambrai
(1529) and Crépy (1544).
In 1561, the citizens of Auxerre were
granted the right to elect a mayor every two years, who was at the head
of a city council composed of twelve lay judges. Religious unrest broke
out that same year, returning in more violent form in 1563. In October
1567, the Huguenots took the city by surprise and sacked the churches,
but were driven out the following year. In 1587 Auxerre joined the Holy
League, and fighting broke out between supporters of the League and
royalists. In 1592 royal troops appeared in the Auxerrois. The city
submitted to Henry IV in April 1594. In the 17th century it suffered
from several famines. On August 19, 1792, during the French Revolution,
Auxerre experienced a terrible riot. In the course of defeating
Napoleon, Auxerre was temporarily occupied by the Austrians at the
beginning of March 1814.
In August 1944, Auxerre was liberated by
Major General Leclerc's troops.
In 1972, the city merged with the
municipality of Vaux.
The commune of Auxerre is located in the north-western part of the
Burgundy-Franche-Comté region, in the center of the Yonne department. It
is crossed by the Yonne, a tributary of the Seine that runs through the
department from south to north. The commune is located in northern
Burgundy (Bassebourgogne in French), a region with sedimentary areas and
at the end of the Paris Basin.
Auxerre is surrounded by many
communes: Augy, Champs-sur-Yonne, Chevannes, Monéteau, Perrigny, Quenne,
Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche, Venoy, Villefargeau, Villeneuve-Saint-Salves
are part of the Auxerre territory. Escolives-Sainte-Camille and Jussy
are part of the Communauté de communes du Pays Coulangeois.
Auxerre is partly situated on a low hill overlooking the Yonne.
The area of the commune is 4,995 ha, part of which is not built up;
it lies at an altitude between 93 m and 217 m.
The Yonne flows from south to north and forms the border with the
communes of Champs-sur-Yonne and Augy before crossing the territory of
the city of Auxerre; it then flows on via Monéteau.
Several small
tributaries are added along the way. Upstream from Auxerre, the Quenne
brook flows out on the right bank at the Preuilly mill and then the
Vallan brook on the left bank at the Batardeau mill. Downstream, the
Caillottes stream joins the Yonne with the Biaunes.
The Valan
stream supplies the cleanest water around Auxerre, as the water from the
other tributaries is less good. On the hill, the only source of water
was the Saint-Vigile pond (which has since disappeared, only a street
near the prefecture bears its name.) and the Saint-Germain fountain.
climate
In the Paris Basin, nestled in the heart of a valley on
either side of the Yonne, the climate is temperate, although not
escaping the harsh cold or hot weather.