Auxerre
[key], town, capital of Yonne dept., N central France, in Burgundy, on the Yonne River. A
commercial and industrial center, it has a great variety of manufactures and an important
trade in Chablis wines. Auxerre gave its name to the medieval county of Auxerrois. It became
part of Burgundy with the Treaty of Arras (1435). St. Germanus of Auxerre was bishop there in
the 5th cent. The former abbatial church of St. Germain (13th cent.) is built on crypts dating
back to the 6th cent. The abbey (now a hospital) has a fine Romanesque clock tower. The
cathedral (13th–16th cent.) is in the Gothic flamboyant style.
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