Auray

Sister cities

• Ussel
• Castlebar
• Utting

History

The Battle of Auray on 29 September 1364 was the last battle of the Breton War of Succession. Kerblois, the place in Brech at which the defeated Charles de Blois was killed is marked by a crucifix. In 1632, sailors departed from the port of Saint-Goustan to re-capture the town of Port Royal in Acadia on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu. Benjamin Franklin arrived at the port of Saint-Goustan on 3 December 1776 at the beginning of the US War of Independence to seek military aid from Louis XVI. In 1795, after the failure of the Quiberon Expedition, part of the royalist Chouannerie rebellion, and the surrender of the Armée des émigrés ordered by Sombreuil on 21 July, most prisoners were transferred to Auray. After a summary trial by a military commission made up of citizens of the town, 750 people were shot and buried in a meadow in Brech on the western shore of the Loch, now called the Champ des martyrs (). In 1829, their bones were exhumed and deposited in the vault of a memorial chapel at the Auray monastery. The railway station was strategically important during the Second World War. Concrete used to build bunkers on the region's beaches travelled through the station. After the war, the collection of military scrap material led to the creation of business in Pi-park.

Geography

The city is surrounded by the communes of Crac'h to the south and the west, Brech to the north and Pluneret to the east. It is crossed by the Loch, a small coastal river, which flows into the Gulf of Morbihan. The town is high on the west bank of the river Auray on the edge of the Armorican plateau which is cut deeply by the river. The port of Saint-Goustan is also in the valley, east of the river.

Most-observed species

• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,642
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,214
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,104
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,014
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,993
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,902
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,477
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,440

Most recent

• M 4.5 — 2013-11-21
  1 km WSW of Plescop, France
• M 2.6 — 2008-08-28
  3 km E of Mauron, France
• M 2.7 — 2008-08-23
  1 km W of Glomel, France
• M 3.2 — 2008-08-23
  4 km WNW of Glomel, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-08-11
  3 km NW of Péaule, France
• M 2.9 — 2008-07-23
  3 km SW of Caden, France