page_title: Aurillac
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Aurillac / History
caption_attribution_description: Fonds Trutat - Photographie ancienne Cote&#160;: TRU C 2294 Localisation&#160;: Fonds ancien (S 30) Original non communicable Titre&#160;: Dans la gare, Aurillac, 18 juillet 1898 Auteur&#160;: Trutat, Eugène Rôle de l’auteur&#160;: Photographe Lieu de création&#160;: Aurillac (Cantal) Date de création&#160;: 1898 Mesures&#160;:&#160;: 6,5 x 9 cm Observations&#160;: Note manuscrite de Trutat&#160;: " Aurillac, dans la gare, puy Mary (?), jumelle Lemardeley, 18 juillet 1898 ". Mot(s)-clé(s)&#160;: -- Gare -- Voie ferrée -- Rail -- Wagon -- Rampe -- Bâtiment -- Aurillac (Cantal) -- Aurillac (Cantal&#160;; canton) -- Cantal (Auvergne) -- Auvergne (France) -- 19e siècle, 4e quart Médium&#160;: Photographies -- Négatifs sur plaque de verre -- Noir et blanc -- Paysages urbains numerique.bibliotheque.toulouse.fr/cgi-bin/library?c=phot... Bibliothèque de Toulouse. Domaine public
context_page_description: Aurillac is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aurillacois or Aurillacoises.
context_section_description: 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.
  The city was made in a Sauveté 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.
caption: The Station at Aurillac in 1898
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