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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).
Local culture and heritage
Places and monuments
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.
Architecture
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.
Museums
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
Auxerre - Branches Airport (IATA: AUF, ICAO: LFLA) in
the communes of Branches, Charbuy and Appoigny (8.5 km northwest of
Auxerre)