Auch in Gascon depending on the spelling, is a French commune located in the department of Gers , in the Occitanie region . Prefecture of the department, capital of the arrondissement and centralizing office of its three cantons, it is also the seat of the Grand Auch Coeur de Gascogne urban community and the main city of the urban area of ​​Auch and its unit urban .

Renowned for its gastronomy , its rugby team which has long evolved into the elite, its cathedral , its pousterles and its monumental staircase from the top of which the statue of d’Artagnan dominates the course of the Gers which separates it in upper town and lower town. -ville, Auch is considered the historic capital of the province of Biscay .

Sights

Places and monuments 

City created by the Romans, Auch had its heyday in the Middle Ages when it was the capital of the province of Biscay. The high quality of its limestone is one of the elements of the architectural prestige of its cathedral . It magnifies the monuments and homes of the “upper town” as well as the stepped alleys called pousterles .

Public buildings 

• The town hall of Auch was erected, opposite the Sainte-Marie cathedral, under the leadership of the intendant of Etigny , from 1760 to 1778. Auch was then the capital of the generality of Gascony and the building must be up to this role. It houses an Italian-style theater, still in operation today, as well as a hall of the Illustrious which brings together the famous portraits of Gascons, eight of which were made by the painter from Gers Gustave de Lassalle-Borde.
• Prefecture of Gers. Early in the xii ^th  century, Archbishop Raymond II of Auch (1096-1118) built a new palace for himself and his successors. It occupied the site of the existing building and that occupied by the sacristies and departmental prisons, including the tower (Tour d’Armagnac).
• Fedel House. This is a house corbelled the xv ^th  century. The walls of its three floors are made up of half-timbered sections filled in with flat bricks in regular alignment. They are based on a stone ground floor which housed a shop closed by two shutters.
• Auch grain hall (Maison de Gascogne). It is a stone hall decorated with commercial caduceus, originally designed for grain trading. It was restored in 1963 and hosts, throughout the year, many events including exhibitions on local products, crafts and local artists.

Public spaces

• Salinis square
• Auch monumental staircaseThe statue of d’Artagnan.
• Treille Bridge
• Pousterles

Religious buildings 

• St. Mary’s Cathedral is Republic Square, it was built in the xv ^th to the xvii ^th  century . It is famous for its stained glass windows made by Arnaud de Moles . The chorus contains a set of 113 stalls in oak massive representing more than 1500 characters. The central portal bears the coat of arms of Bishop Jean-François Montillet of GRENAUD, Archbishop of Auch in the xviii ^th  century. On the way to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, this cathedral gave pilgrims‘ hospice. Other monuments bear witness to this passage and to religious fervor in the Middle Ages (entrance doors, hospital , convent transformed into the current municipal library , oratory, etc.).
• Palace of Officiality
• Church of Embats, Chemin du Plan.
• Church of the Jacobins, place Louis Blanc. The chapel, facades and roofs of the cloister building have been listed in the inventory of historical monuments since 1976.
• Saint-Orens Church, rue Dessoles.
• Saint-Paul church, rue Voltaire.
• Saint-Pierre church, place Barbès (entertainment center). This is a church that was rebuilt in the xviii ^th  century. Note its square bell tower.
• Sainte-Bernadette Church, rue Jeanne d’Albret.
• Carmel Chapel , rue Edgard Quinet.
• Chapel of the Carmelites , Place Salustre du Bartas (municipal library).
• Sainte-Marie Oratory high school college chapel, rue Victor Hugo.
• Chapel of the Daughters of Mary, rue Augusta (retirement home).
• Chapel, former retirement home La Ribère, chemin de la Ribère.
• Chapel of the Sacred Heart, rue de Metz.
• Diocesan house chapel, rue de Guynemer (Cuzin center).
• Chapelle Saint-Dominique, rue de la Somme (Retirement home).
• Notre-Dame des Neiges chapel in the cemetery, rue du Repos.
• Chapel (opposite the Hôtel du Département).
• Former Jesuit college, Saint-Ignace chapel, Place Salinis. 
• Chapel, former Pasteur-Saint-Augustin hospital , rue Pasteur. 
• Priory of Saint-Orens, boulevard Sadi Carnot.

Culture

Tour d’Armagnac.. The tower of the Archdiocesan Archives, wrongfully called Tower of Armagnac, built in the xiv ^th  century was originally a prison depending on the palace of the Archbishop of Auch. 

Museum of the Americas-Auch

The Musée des Amériques-Auch (formerly the Jacobins museum) was founded by a decree of the Directory of the Department of Gers on December 16 , 1793 (26 Frimaire of year II). The collections, made up from revolutionary seizures, were essentially made up at the time of paintings and works of art. The objects of the archaeological museum of the Historical Society of Gascony came to complete them at the end of the xix ^E  century.

Nature

The Claude-Desbons promenade, a 4  km course on the banks of the Gers, offers an exceptional setting for relaxation in the heart of the city. It allows pedestrian access to the Couloumé forest park ( 12  ha .

Two other enclosed gardens are present: the Ortholan garden , near Place de Verdun, opened in July 1936, and the Cuzin garden, near the town hall. These two gardens offer children’s play areas, such as Couloumé Park since spring 2013.

Cultural events and festivities 

• Markets: Thursdays and Saturdays;
• Flea market: 2 ^th  Saturday of the month;
• Carnival: 1 ^st  half of April;
• Fêtes d’Auch: end of June, beginning of July;
• Patronal feast: Sunday following September 8;
• Antique Fair: September.

Events

• Every year in April, the Gypsy music festival “Welcome in Tsiganie” is held next to the Dôme de Gascogne.
• The classical music festival Éclats de voix takes place every year in June from the Maison de Gascogne ( Halle aux grains d’Auch ).
• Every year, around mid-October, the “Independence (s) and Creation” festival, created on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the CINÉ 32 association, brings together professional audiences, young audiences, schools and film lovers. around fifty films, screened in preview, often in the presence of their director (director) or actors, speakers, etc.
• Finally, the circus is honored every year in October with the CIRCA festival (Current Circus Festival).