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Prefecture and commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aurillac (French pronunciation: [oʁijak] ; Occitan: Orlhac [uɾˈʎak]) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France.
Aurillac
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Prefecture and commune | |
![]() The Town Hall of Aurillac | |
Coordinates: 44°55′34″N 2°26′26″E | |
Country | France |
Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
Department | Cantal |
Arrondissement | Aurillac |
Canton | Aurillac-1, Aurillac-2, Aurillac-3 |
Intercommunality | CA Bassin Aurillac |
Government | |
• Mayor (2020–2026) | Pierre Mathonier[1] |
Area 1 | 28.76 km2 (11.10 sq mi) |
Population (2021)[2] | 25,815 |
• Density | 900/km2 (2,300/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
INSEE/Postal code | 15014 /15000 |
Elevation | 573–867 m (1,880–2,844 ft) (avg. 622 m or 2,041 ft) |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
Aurillac is at 600 m (2,000 ft) above sea level and located at the foot of the Cantal mountains in a small sedimentary basin. The city is built on the banks of the Jordanne, a tributary of the Cère. It is 558 km (347 mi) south of Paris and 223 km (139 mi) north of Toulouse. Aurillac was part of a former Auvergne province called Haute-Auvergne and is only 20 km (12 mi) away from the heart of the Auvergne Volcano Park. Access to the commune is by numerous roads including the D922 from Naucelles in the north, the D17 from Saint-Simon in the north-east, Route nationale N122 from Polminhac in the east which continues to Sansac-de-Marmiesse in the south-west, the D920 to Arpajon-sur-Cère in the south-east, and the D18 to Ytrac in the west.[3] Aurillac station, in the centre of town, lies on the Figeac-Arvant railway. It has rail connections to Clermont-Ferrand, Brive-la-Gaillarde and Toulouse. About 50% of the commune is urbanised with farmland to the east and west of the urban area.
Aurillac – Tronquières Airport is located in the south of the commune with its runway extending beyond the commune boundary. It is connected to Paris by two daily flights by the Air France subsidiary HOP!. The commune was awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.[4]
The Jordanne river flows through the heart of the commune from north to south where it joins the Cère just south of the commune.
Influenced by its altitude, Aurillac features an oceanic climate (Cfb), closely bordering on a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) under the Köppen system. In spite of this, the city enjoys more than 2,100 hours of sunshine per year on average, but also a high amount of precipitations per year on average. The record low temperature was −24.5 °C (−12 °F) on 9 January 1985 and the record high was 38.0 °C (100 °F) on 30 July 1983.
Climate data for Aurillac (1981–2010 averages) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 18.8 (65.8) |
22.1 (71.8) |
23.5 (74.3) |
26.5 (79.7) |
29.2 (84.6) |
35.0 (95.0) |
38.0 (100.4) |
37.7 (99.9) |
32.4 (90.3) |
26.6 (79.9) |
23.2 (73.8) |
20.7 (69.3) |
38.0 (100.4) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.7 (44.1) |
7.9 (46.2) |
11.2 (52.2) |
13.7 (56.7) |
17.8 (64.0) |
21.5 (70.7) |
24.3 (75.7) |
24.0 (75.2) |
20.3 (68.5) |
16.0 (60.8) |
10.4 (50.7) |
7.5 (45.5) |
15.1 (59.2) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 2.9 (37.2) |
3.6 (38.5) |
6.2 (43.2) |
8.5 (47.3) |
12.6 (54.7) |
15.8 (60.4) |
18.3 (64.9) |
18.0 (64.4) |
14.6 (58.3) |
11.4 (52.5) |
6.3 (43.3) |
3.6 (38.5) |
10.1 (50.3) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −1.0 (30.2) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
1.3 (34.3) |
3.4 (38.1) |
7.3 (45.1) |
10.1 (50.2) |
12.2 (54.0) |
11.9 (53.4) |
8.9 (48.0) |
6.7 (44.1) |
2.3 (36.1) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
5.2 (41.4) |
Record low °C (°F) | −24.5 (−12.1) |
−18.0 (−0.4) |
−15.2 (4.6) |
−9.1 (15.6) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
0.1 (32.2) |
2.4 (36.3) |
0.7 (33.3) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
−8.1 (17.4) |
−11.6 (11.1) |
−15.9 (3.4) |
−24.5 (−12.1) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 91.7 (3.61) |
83.2 (3.28) |
84.7 (3.33) |
115.5 (4.55) |
118.4 (4.66) |
88.7 (3.49) |
67.1 (2.64) |
84.2 (3.31) |
109.3 (4.30) |
114.3 (4.50) |
108.7 (4.28) |
108.2 (4.26) |
1,174 (46.22) |
Average precipitation days | 12.0 | 10.6 | 11.1 | 12.1 | 12.7 | 9.7 | 8.1 | 9.5 | 8.8 | 11.4 | 12.0 | 11.8 | 130.0 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 110.0 | 126.8 | 177.2 | 179.3 | 210.4 | 242.1 | 268.0 | 248.8 | 206.1 | 148.7 | 100.3 | 100.0 | 2,117.5 |
Source: Météo France[5][6] |
The origin of the name Aurillac is from Aureliacum meaning "Villa of Aurelius" and dates back to the Gallo-Roman era. It is attested in the polygonal Fanum d'Aron which was built in the 1st century and discovered in 1977 at Lescudillier.
It is thought that in the Gallic era the original site of the city was on the heights overlooking the current city at Saint-Jean-de-Dône ("Dône" from dunum) and, like most oppida, it was abandoned after the Roman conquest in favour of a new city established on the plain. With the return of instability in the Lower Roman Empire there was a movement towards Encastellation and a new fortified site was established in mid-slope between the former oppidum and the old Gallo-Roman city where the Chateau of Saint-Étienne is today.
The history of the city is really only known from 856, the year of the birth of Count Gerald of Aurillac at the castle where his father, also named Gerald, was lord. In 885 he founded a Benedictine monastery which later bore his name. It was in this monastery that Gerbert, the first French pope under the name of Sylvester II, studied.[7]
The city was made in a Sauveté[Note 1] area which was located between four crosses and was founded in 898 by Gerald shortly after the abbey. The first urban area was circular and built close to the Abbey of Aurillac. Gerald died around 910 but his influence was such that over the centuries Gerald was always a baptismal name prevalent in the population of Aurillac and the surrounding area.
It was in the 13th century that municipal conflict began between consuls and abbots. After taking the Chateau of Saint-Étienne in 1255 and two negotiated agreements called the Peace of Aurillac, relations were normalised.
In the 13th and 14th centuries Aurillac withstood several sieges by the English and in the 16th century continued to suffer from civil and religious wars.
The influence of the abbey declined with its secularization and its implementation of orders.
In 1569 the city was delivered by treason to the Protestants: people were tortured and held to ransom and the Abbey was sacked. The library and archives were all burned.
Before the French Revolution Aurillac had a Présidial and carried the title of capital of the Haute-Auvergne. In 1790 on the creation of departments, after a period of alternating with Saint-Flour, Aurillac definitively became the capital of Cantal.
The arrival of the railway in 1866 accelerated the development of the city.
At the first census in 1759 there were 6,268 people in Aurillac, it now has about 28,000.
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The traditional arms of Aurillac. The three silver shells were originally on one line because Aurillac was a stage on the Way of St. James coming from Clermont-Ferrand (currently the Via Arvernha). The three fleurs-de-lis gold indicated a Good Town at a time when Aurillac provided a body of two hundred picked men to King Charles VII to fight the British.
Blazon:
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The traditional arms of the Abbey and County of Aurillac. These arms were originally on the banner of the abbey representing a patch of grass, evoking a miraculous fact related by Odo of Cluny in his Life of Saint Gerald of Aurillac.
Blazon:
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Aurillac is the capital of the department of Cantal (seat of the prefecture) and of the Arrondissement of Aurillac as well as for three cantons (INSEE names):[8]
List of Successive Mayors[9]
From | To | Name |
---|---|---|
1789 | Louis de Lorus | |
1790 | Joseph Francois Gourlat de Saint-Etienne | |
1794 | 1798 | François Armand |
1798 | 1800 | Jean Baptiste Perret |
1800 | 1813 | Jean Abadie |
1813 | 1815 | Jean Baptiste Perret |
1815 | 1829 | Louis Delom de Lalaubie |
1829 | 1833 | Hippolyte Esquirou de Parieu |
1833 | 1840 | Pierre Esquirou Lavignac |
1840 | 1848 | Louis-Furcy Grognier |
1848 | 1848 | Amédée Delzons |
1848 | 1870 | Hippolyte Esquirou de Parieu |
1871 | 1874 | Emile Genestie |
1874 | 1887 | Antoine Joseph Géraud Cabanes |
1887 | 1889 | Géraud Lusser |
1889 | 1911 | Francis Fesq |
1911 | 1919 | François Volpilhac |
1919 | 1935 | Louis Amant Dauzier |
1935 | 1941 | Jean Chanal |
From | To | Name | Party | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|
1941 | 1944 | Antony Joly | Appointed by the Vichy Regime. Textile Entrepreneur | |
1944 | 1947 | Jean Chanal | Doctor, Former Mayor | |
1947 | 1953 | Henri Tricot | Dentist, Legion of Honour | |
1953 | 1965 | Paul Joseph Amable Piales | Industrialist, Legion of Honour, Senator for Cantal 1948-1971 | |
1965 | 1971 | Jacques Meyniel | PS | Son of Mayor Louis Meyniel, MP for Cantal |
1971 | 1977 | Jean Mézard | CNIP | Doctor, President of the General Council |
1977 | 1995 | René Souchon | PS | |
1995 | 2001 | Yvon Bec | MDC | |
2001 | 2006 | René Souchon | PS | Resigned to become President of the Auvergne Regional Council |
2006 | 2013 | Alain Calmette | PS | General Counsellor, MP for Cantal from 2012 |
2013 | 2026 | Pierre Mathonier | PS |
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aurillacois or Aurillacoises in French.[11]
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Source: EHESS[12] and INSEE[13] |
Aurillac has hundreds of boutiques, shops, and artisans.
Also found in Aurillac are different players in various food fields (e.g. the Couderc distillery with its famous gentian liqueur and famous establishments such as the Leroux and Bonal cheese factories, the Morin refinery, MAS charcuteries, Teil cured by the Altitude group, refrigerated transport operator Olano Ladoux etc.).
Aurillac is best known for its Cheese centre based on the heights of Aurillac close to the Chateau Saint-Étienne. It was established in 1993, the structure consists of an association bringing together many organisations to develop scientific programs. It develops scientific programs relating to the cheese sector.
Aurillac hosts several websites:
Aurillac has also been the headquarters of the ERP vendor Qualiac since 1979.[17]
The commune has a very large number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments.[18] There are also a very large number of items which are registered as historical objects in various locations.[19]
Some of the most interesting sites are:
The commune has several religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:
Aurillac has several dance centres:
In 2011 Aurillac hosted the start of the Tour de France in the 10th stage.
Two military units are garrisoned in Aurillac:
Aurillac has long been a garrison town with the 139th Infantry Regiment, who are noted for their feats during the Battle of the Somme. They have a remarkable chronology and a cabinet of trophies were displayed in the Hall of Honour of the Departmental Military Delegation who have since moved, forgetting to preserve and safeguard this part of history.
The military square is wide and airy and a feature of military architecture of the time. It is now known as the Zone of Peace and is now converted into a parking lot leaving a clear view of the 3 buildings that surround it. The entrance to the barracks was destroyed and replaced by a modern building. It houses administrative services, treasury, CABA, Mortgages, Cadastre etc. In the 1950s the old military buildings became the "Cité Administrative".
The clock building is called so because of the great clock that adorns this building. It is also commonly called the House of unions and associations. Originally these buildings were the former Convent of the Visitation, built in 1682. The Convent was converted into a barracks for infantry in 1792 and occupied half of the buildings until 1922, hence the transformation of buildings to equestrian use. Today the Pierre-Mendès-France Cultural Centre occupies the premises including the Museum of Art and Archaeology, the County Conservatory of Music and Dance, the youth service activities of the town of Aurillac, and a crèche for children. The Stables were then used by the national stud established by Napoleon in 1806; a depot of stallions was created in Aurillac. At the Battle of Austerlitz Napoleon rode Cantal, a speckled gray horse which is visible in a painting in the Art and Archaeology Museum. When the National Stud moved the stables were transformed into an exhibition hall / gallery and a range of exhibitions is held every year including the Salon des Métiers d'Art d'Aurillac.