Auxey-Duresses (French pronunciation: [osɛ dyʁɛs]) is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France.

Geography

Auxey-Duresses is a wine-growing commune some 10 km south-west of Beaune and 11 km north of Chagny. Access to the commune is by the D973 road from Pommard in the north-east which passes through the length of the commune and the village and continues south-west to La Rochepot. The D17E comes from Saint-Romain in the west and passes through the village continuing east to Meursault. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of Melin in the south-west and Petit-Auxey west of the village. The north and south of the commune are rugged and heavily forested with the valley in the centre and west farmland.

The Ruisseau des Cloux flows from the south-west through the centre of the commune from west to east where it continues to join the river Dheune near Merceuil.

History

The Auxey valley was one of the first places where grapevines were planted in Burgundy during the 2nd century BC. when Auxey-le-Petit, which was dependent on Auxey-Duresses, was a high place of Druid worship. On Mount Mélian the remains of a large prehistoric enclosure can be found which was at that time occupied by the Gauls and the Romans. During the Gallo-Roman period the town grew and became known by the Latin name Alcius.

After the barbarian invasions of the 5th century AD the commune reached new heights thanks to the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Symphorien at Autun who built a church at Auxey-le-Petit in 696. It was rebuilt in the 10th century by monks from the Cluny Abbey and it had a large vineyard in the village. The bell tower and the gate are Romanesque and date from the 12th century. These monks also left the "Moines Mill". At that time there were many mills in the valley and the hamlet of Melin, another dependency of the commune, inherited the name.

At the site of the medieval castle there is now the Church of Saint-Martin-Duresses Auxey whose steeple is made from Tuff. Inside there are some paintings, including a triptych relating the life of Mary. The present chateau belonged to the Marquis de MacMahon, one of whose descendants became Marshal of France and Duke of Magenta.

Heraldry

Blazon: Party per pale of Or and Gules, over all a chevron inverted of Vert debruised by a billhook Argent handled in Sable in pale.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Mayors from 1934

From	To	Name
1934	1945	François Lafouge
1945	1977	Robert Creusefond
1977	1995	Jean Lafouge
1995	2008	Dominique Boire
2008	2014	Agnès Diconne
2014	2022	Bernard Battault
2022	2026	François Latour

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Alcéens or Alcéennes in French.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 684 —     1800 733 +0.99% 1806 776 +0.95% 1821 856 +0.66% 1831 877 +0.24% 1836 915 +0.85% 1841 879 −0.80% 1846 834 −1.05% 1851 823 −0.27% 1856 801 −0.54% 1861 780 −0.53% 1866 810 +0.76% 1872 801 −0.19% 1876 789 −0.38% 1881 742 −1.22% 1886 768 +0.69% 1891 680 −2.40% 1896 645 −1.05%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 649 +0.12% 1906 659 +0.31% 1911 526 −4.41% 1921 421 −2.20% 1926 431 +0.47% 1931 413 −0.85% 1936 415 +0.10% 1946 365 −1.28% 1954 374 +0.30% 1962 398 +0.78% 1968 407 +0.37% 1975 329 −2.99% 1982 345 +0.68% 1990 351 +0.22% 1999 367 +0.50% 2007 337 −1.06% 2012 326 −0.66% 2017 304 −1.39%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

Wine

Auxey-Duresses is one of the wine communes of the Côte de Beaune with 80 hectares of red wines (including 27 hectares in 1st Vintage) and 35.60 hectares of white wines (including 1.35 hectare in 1st Vintage).

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has a number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:

• A Lavoir (Public laundry) at Petit-Auxey (19th century)
• A Lavoir (Public laundry) at Meulin (1867)
• A Lavoir (Public laundry) at an unnamed place (19th century)
• A Lavoir (Public laundry) (19th century)

Religious heritage

The commune has several religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:

• The Church of Petit-Auxey (12th century)
• The Church of Saint-Martin (14th century). The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
  • A Painting: Saint Theresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross (17th century)
  • A Painting: Fainting of Saint Theresa of Avila (17th century)
  • A Painting: Saint Catherine of Sienna (17th century)
  • A Painting: Saint Hyacinthe (17th century)
  • A Painting: The dead Christ (17th century)
  • A Retable (Triptych) depicting the life of the Virgin (16th century)
• A Cemetery Cross
• The Cemetery (15th century)

See also

• French wine
• Communes of the Côte-d'Or department

Bibliography

• Pierre Poupon, Pierre Forgeot, Paul Devaux, and Louis Régis Affre, The Wines of Burgundy, 9th edition, Presses universitaires de France, 1980, 351 pages (in French)