Autun

Autun [ Otoe ] is a French town with 14,426 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Saône -et -Loire in the Burgundy region, and capital of the eponymous arrondissement.

• 5.1 Sons and daughters
• 5.2 Persons with reference to the city

Geography

The city lies on the shores of Arroux, at the confluence of its right tributary Ternin. Autun is considered the " gateway to the Morvan massif ". The dark forests of this region rich approach almost to the covered with colored glazed bricks choir of Saint- Lazare Cathedral.

History

Emperor Augustus founded Augustodunum 10 BC on the trade route Via Agrippa and the river Arroux after the resistance of the Gauls was finally broken. Located in the plane Augustodunum corresponded to the Roman city model as opposed to the hilltop Bibracte, which was 25 kilometers away from Augustodunum and so far had been the capital of the tribe of the Aedui. After the founding of Augustodunum it came to the gradual abandonment of Bibracte by emigration. The majority of the former inhabitants of Bibracte should have settled in Augustodunum, including a part of the haeduischen upper class, which was already set pro-Roman during the Gallic War: you registered with security, the strategic importance of the new city, which was on the main routes. Even before Roman times to have located within the city limits a druid shrine. About the ancient proportions (200 ha), the city is not outgrown. It was once known as the "Rome" of Gaul.

The medieval city walls, of which 23 towers are obtained based ( six kilometers long, 54 towers ) on ancient foundations. Of the four main gates still stand the Porte d' Arroux in the northwest (double porch with barrel-vaulted passageways, floor with superior fluted columns ) and the Porte Saint -André in the northeast (high and low passages like the first goal, as this covered with sandstone blocks, approaches a courtyard on the city side ). From Roman times get also remained only the theater, the largest in the whole of Gaul, the pyramid de Couhard, a tomb from the 1st century, and outside the city of heavily battered so-called temple of Janus.

In 532 a major battle took place on the outskirts of the city in which the Franks defeated the Burgundians; whose kingdom was annexed by the Frank empire. Then Autun acted to predation by the Arabs ( 725/28 ) as Franconian capital. In 725 the Umayyad general Anbassa ibn al - Kalbi Suhaym came with his army to Autun. On August 22, 725 he conquered the city. Autun was the easternmost point of the expansion of the Umayyad in Europe.

Between 663 and 675, a council in Autun took place, initiated by Bishop Leger of Autun, " from the file that only fragmentary surviving Council no date is shown, but rather the bishop Leger of Autun specified as the initiator. ". Significantly was there, among other things, that for the religious takeover of the Rule of Benedict was demanded.

In the 12th century the important Romanesque cathedral St- Lazare was built.

In 1788, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand -Périgord, Bishop of Autun and remained so until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. Later he was Napoleon's foreign minister.

Attractions

Monuments

See also: List of Monuments historiques in Autun

From the Gallo -Roman period:

• City Wall: built on Roman foundations
• Ancient city gates Porte d' Arroux and Porte Saint -André
• So-called temple of Janus: the god Janus was erroneously assigned; clarifies a plaque on the building: " The particular form of the temple, fanum called, is Gallic origin, only the stonemason technique is Roman and dates from the 1st century AD The name Janus was incorrectly associated with the temple, as in the 16. century the historian Pierre de Saint -Julien interpreted the name of the place (in French la Genetoye ). In fact, this place name designated a locality where Ginstersträuche ( Cytisus Genista ) grew. The deity who was worshiped here, is completely unknown. " ( Translator's from the English text display)
• Roman theater with a diameter of 148 m and about 15,000 seats; the Orchestra as well as some ranks have been exposed
• Roman amphitheater

From the Middle Ages:

• Cathédrale St- Lazare from the 12th century in the style of Burgundian Romanesque
• Tour des Ursulines called Donjon from the 12th century, the only remainder of the once impressive castle Riveau, now a cultural center
• Medieval houses with the city palace of the Chancellor of the Dukes of Burgundy, Nicolas Rolin (* 1376 Autun ) in which the Musée Rolin was established

Next worth seeing

• Musée Rolin
• Muséum d' Histoire Naturelle d' Autun: science museum with over 800,000 species, in the rue Saint -Antoine
• Lycée Militaire d' Autun: former seminar with a former cloister (17th century); Napoleon and his brother Joseph enjoyed this part of their training
• Passage: magnificent covered passage in the Rue du Général du Demetz
• Croix de la Libération: a reminiscent of the liberation of the city in 1944 stone cross located on the south-west of Autun hill Mont Saint -Sebastien, from which one has a good view over the city

Photo Gallery

Keeper's house at the Roman theater with antique figures

Gallo -Roman city wall

Bridge over the Arroux overlooking the Roman city gate Porte d' Arroux

Roman city gate Porte d' Arroux ( 1st century BC)

So-called temple of Janus ( 1st century AD)

Street in old town

Croix de la Libération

Tower of the Ursuline

Personalities

Sons and daughters

• Symphorianus (*? -178 ), Christian martyr
• Eumenius (around 264 to 312), Gallic rhetorician of Late Antiquity
• Germanus of Paris ( 496-576 ), Bishop of Paris
• Nicolas Rolin (1376-1462), Chancellor Philip the Good
• Nicolas Chan Garnier (1793-1877), French general
• François -Xavier Gillot (1842-1910), French botanist
• Louis Renault (1843-1918), French jurist and Nobel Peace Prize

Persons with respect to the city

• Leger ( 616-679 ), Bishop of Autun
• Talleyrand (1754-1838), from 1788 bishop in the Diocese of Autun
• Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), Napoleon and his brother Joseph Bonaparte were trained in Autun
• Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844), eldest brother of Napoleon
• Siegfried Thomaschki (1884-1967), as Colonel of the Wehrmacht in 1940 Commandant

Twinning

• Germany Ingelheim am Rhein, Rhineland -Palatinate, since 1963
• Japan Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, since 2002
• Arévalo Spain, Castile -Leon

Special

A culinary specialty of the region are the products of the Morvan ( granite massif in the region of Burgundy ( Bourgogne ) ), such as cheese, honey and products of hazelnut, such as the Noisettes du Morvan, a nut pastry in the form of nuts and Gros Croquets du Morvan, a almond and nut pastries.