AUCH, south-west France, capital of the department of Gers, on the Southern railway, south of Agen. Pop. (1931) 8,987. It consists of a lower and upper quarter united by several flights of steps. The streets are steep and narrow, but there is an 18th century promenade in the upper town. Three bridges cross the Gers to the suburb of Patte d'Oie.
Auch (Elimberris) was the capital of a Celtiberian tribe, the Ausci, and became one of the most important cities of Roman Gaul. In the 4th century its bishopric was founded and after the destruction of Eauze it became the metropolis of Novempopulana. Till 732, Auch stood on the right bank of the Gers, but in that year the Saracen ravages drove the inhabitants to the left bank. The Benedictine abbey of St. Orrens was founded by Count Bernard of Armagnac in the loth century. The city was the capital of Armagnac in the middle ages. Its importance may be related to the use of the valley-road through a rather difficult region of deeply-cut streams—the Plateau de Gers. During the Religious Wars of the 16th century Auch remained Catholic, except for a short occupation in 1569 by Huguenots under Gabriel, count of Montgomery. In the i8th century it was the capital of Gascony and the seat of a generality. Antoine Megret d'Etigny, intendant from 1751 to 1767, did much to improve the city and its commerce. The most interesting part of the town is the old quarter around the Place Salinis, a spacious terrace with an ex tensive view. On its north side rises the cathedral of Sainte-Marie, built from 1489-1662. It is one of the finest Gothic buildings in south France. The Greco-Roman facade, however, dates from the 17th century. The chief treasures of the cathedral are the magnificent Renaissance stained-glass windows and the 113 choir stalls of carved oak, also of Renaissance workmanship. The archbishop's palace, an i8th century building with a Romanesque hall and tower (14th century), adjoins the cathedral. Little remains of the abbey of St. Orrens. The ecclesiastical seminary contains an important library with a collection of manuscripts. The former palace of the intendants of Gascony is now the pre fecture. Auch is the seat of an archbishop, a prefect, and a court of assizes, and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce and a chamber of commerce. Trade is in Armagnac brandy, wine, cereals, poultry, and "pate de foie." Other industries are the making of hosiery, horse-rearing, brick-making, flour-milling, and tanning.