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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name                   = Avranches
|commune status         = [[Subprefectures in France|Subprefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]]
|image                  = Avranchesjardindesplantes.JPG
|caption                = Botanical garden
|image coat of arms     = Blason ville fr Avranches (Manche).svg
|arrondissement         = Avranches
|canton                 = [[Canton of Avranches|Avranches]] and [[Canton of Isigny-le-Buat|Isigny-le-Buat]]
|INSEE                  = 50025
|postal code            = 50300
|mayor                  = David Nicolas<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|publisher=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=13 September 2022|language=fr}}</ref>
|term                   = 2020&ndash;2026
|intercommunality       = [[Communauté d'agglomération Mont-Saint-Michel-Normandie|CA Mont-Saint-Michel-Normandie]]
|coordinates            = {{coord|48.685|-1.3556|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m            = 
|elevation min m        = 7
|elevation max m        = 111
|area km2               = 10.99
|population             = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date        = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
}}

'''Avranches''' ({{IPA|fr|avʁɑ̃ʃ|-|Fr-Avranches.ogg}}; {{langx|nrf|Avraunches}}) is a [[Communes of France|commune]] in the [[Manche]] department, and the region of [[Normandy (administrative region)|Normandy]], northwestern France. It is a [[subprefecture]] of the department.<ref>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/geographie/commune/50025-avranches Commune d'Avranches (50025)], INSEE</ref> The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''.<ref>Rene Andre, ''Avranches 2000 ans d'histoire'', Publication Municipale</ref>

==History==
===Middle Ages===
By the end of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] period, the settlement of ''Ingena'', capital of the [[Abrincatui]] tribe, had taken the name of the tribe itself. This was the origin of the name ''Avranches''. In 511 the town became the seat of a diocese (suppressed in 1790) and subsequently of a major Romanesque cathedral dedicated to Saint Andrew, [[Avranches Cathedral]], which was dismantled during the French revolutionary period. As the region of Brittany emerged from the Roman region of Armorica, Avranchin was briefly held by [[Alan I, King of Brittany]] as part of the Kingdom of Brittany at the turn of the 10th century. The regions that later became the Duchies of [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]] and Brittany each experienced devastating [[Viking raids]], with Brittany occupied by Vikings from 907 to 937. In 933 Avranches and its territory, the [[Avranchin]], were ceded to the [[Normans]].

[[Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester]], a magnate under [[William the Conqueror]], was the son of Richard le Goz, Vicomte d'Avranches.<ref>{{cite ODNB |first=C. P. |last=Lewis |title=Avranches, Hugh d', first earl of Chester (d. 1101) |year=2004 |id=14056 }}</ref>

In 1172 (September 27–28) a council was held at Avranches in response to the murder of [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] [[Saint]] [[Thomas Becket]]. [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], King of England, after due [[penance]] done at Avranches on 21 May 1172, was absolved from the censures incurred by the assassination of the holy prelate and reached the [[Compromise of Avranches]] with the [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]], swearing fidelity to [[Pope Alexander III]] in the person of the [[papal legate]].

The same council was forbidden to confer on children [[benefice]], carrying with it the [[cure of souls]], or on the children of priests for the churches of their fathers. Each parish was required to have an assistant (vicarius), and the Advent fast was commended to all who could observe it, especially to ecclesiastics.

The town was damaged in both the [[Hundred Years' War]] and the [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]].

[[Álvaro Vaz de Almada]] was made 1st [[Count of Avranches]] by King [[Henry VI of England]] on August 8, 1444.

===Modern era===
The town lost some influence after the [[French Revolution]] during which the diocese was abolished, the bailif was removed and primary and secondary schools were closed. The town was also occupied and raided by troops both pro-republican and anti-revolutionary (Chouans).<ref>''Avranches : ses rues et places, ses monuments, ses maisons principales, ses habitants, leurs professions pendant la Révolution'' (1909), Avranches, Félix Jourdan, p.517.</ref> However, in 1802 the Avranches diocese was restored as part of the [[Diocese of Coutances]].

Many English families settled here after the [[Treaty of Paris (1814)]].<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol II'' (1847), London, Charles Knight, p.569.</ref>

A literary description of the town in the 19th century is recorded in [[Guy de Maupassant]]'s novel ''Notre Cœur'', when the main character Mariolle meets his lover and sets out for [[Mont Saint-Michel]]:<br />
''The houses crowning the heights gave to the place from a distance the appearance of a fortification. Seen close at hand, it was an ancient and pretty Norman city, with small dwellings of regular and almost similar appearance built closely adjoining one another, giving an aspect of ancient pride and modern comfort, a feudal yet peasant-like air.''<ref>{{cite web|author=Denis Larionov & Alexander Zhulin |url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/guy-de-maupassant/the-life-work-of-henri-ren-guy-de-maupassant-volume-9-pua/page-4-the-life-work-of-henri-ren-guy-de-maupassant-volume-9-pua.shtml |title=The life work of Henri René Guy de Maupassant (Volume 9) by Guy de Maupassant (page 4 of 20) |publisher=Ebooksread.com |access-date=2013-07-10}}</ref>

[[File:Normandie Manche Avranches1 tango7174.jpg|thumb|right|Patton Square]]

The liberation of Avranches during [[World War II]] was led by General [[George S. Patton]] and began on 31 July 1944.

On 1 January 2019, the former commune [[Saint-Martin-des-Champs, Manche|Saint-Martin-des-Champs]] was merged into Avranches.<ref>[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/2018/10/19/TERB1833245A/jo/texte Arrêté préfectoral] 19 October 2018 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

==Geography==
Avranches is situated at the southern end of the [[Cotentin Peninsula]] on the [[European route E40|E40]] road connecting [[Saint-Lô]] with [[Brittany]] and on the rail line between [[Lison]] (linking to Caen) and [[Dol-de-Bretagne|Dol]] (linking to Rennes).

The town was founded on high ground overlooking the dunes and coastal marshes along the bay forming the corner between the peninsulas of the Cotentin and Brittany. From Avranches, it is possible to see the [[Mont Saint-Michel]], which was founded by [[Aubert of Avranches|Saint Aubert]], [[Bishop of Avranches]] in the 8th century.

==Population==
{{Historical populations
|align = none
|cols = 2
|percentages = pagr
|source = EHESS<ref name=ehess>{{Cassini-Ehess|2213|Avranches}}</ref> and INSEE (2007-2019)<ref>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/2123878?geo=COM-50025 Populations légales 2012], INSEE</ref><ref name=pop2017>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/4265439/dep50.pdf Populations légales 2017: 50 Manche], [[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|INSEE]]</ref><ref>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/6011060/dep50.pdf Populations légales 2019: 50 Manche], INSEE</ref>
|footnote = Avranches absorbed Saint-Martin-des-Champs in 2019.
|graph-pos = bottom
|1793 |5880
|1800 |5413
|1806 |6144
|1821 |6431
|1831 |7269
|1836 |7690
|1841 |8256
|1846 |7965
|1851 |8932
|1856 |8702
|1861 |8592
|1866 |8642
|1872 |8137
|1876 |8157
|1881 |8057
|1886 |8000
|1891 |7785
|1896 |7845
|1901 |7384
|1906 |7360
|1911 |7174
|1921 |6597
|1926 |6803
|1931 |6881
|1936 |7130
|1946 |7554
|1954 |8004
|1962 |8854
|1968 |9775
|1975 |10136
|1982 |9468
|1990 |8638
|1999 |8500
|2007 |8226
|2012 |7915
|2017 |7785
|2019 |10264
}}

==Sights==
A museum, [http://www.scriptorial.fr/ Le Scriptorial], houses the collection of manuscripts of Mont Saint-Michel, deposited in the municipal archives during the French Revolution. It is one of the largest collections of medieval illuminated manuscripts in France, outside national and university libraries.

Formerly dominated by the cathedral, where Henry II did penance, an open grassed area ''La Plate-Forme'' overlooking the bay towards Mont Saint-Michel displays only a few remnants of the destroyed building.

The major church [[Notre Dame des Champs (Avranches)]] was constructed in Gothic Revival style in the 19th century to restore the religious life of the town after the destruction of the cathedral. The basilica church of Saint Gervais houses a treasury, best known for the purported skull of Saint Aubert complete with hole where the archangel Michael's finger pierced it (probably a prehistoric [[trepanation|trepanned]] skull).

The botanical gardens were founded in the grounds of the former Franciscan convent in the late 18th century. The expansion and introduction of exotic species in the 19th century and the location of the gardens overlooking the bay made the gardens an important sight in the town.

The [[Manoir de Brion]], an ancient Benedictine priory of Mont Saint-Michel, is located in Dragey.

Avranches is twinned with St. Helier in Jersey. On 2 March 2010 a Jersey-registered boat "Archangel" succeeded in reaching Avranches at [[Marcey-les-Grèves]]. It is believed this was the first instance of a foreign vessel reaching Avranches in modern times.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_JcTw7IMF4 |title=Jersey to Avranches by sea |publisher=YouTube |date=2010-03-02 |access-date=2013-07-10}}</ref>
<br>
<gallery>
Image:Avranches Église Notre-Dame-des-Champs.jpg|[[Notre Dame des Champs (Avranches)|Notre Dame des Champs]]
File:Normandie Manche Avranches3 tango7174.jpg|Notre-Dame-des-Champs,<br>Stations of the Cross
File:Normandie Manche Avranches4 tango7174.jpg|Saint-Gervais Basilica
File:Normandie Manche Avranches5 tango7174.jpg|Saint-Gervais Basilica,<br>Skull of Saint Aubert
</gallery>

==Sport==
[[US Avranches]] is a football club based in the commune, who play their home games at Stade René Fenouillère.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ouest-france.fr/sport/football/us-avranches/foot-n2-pour-garder-ses-supporters-avranches-veut-miser-sur-laspect-convivial-des-matches-eae465f4-8c94-11ef-9133-31ed8d3d7b40|title=Foot. N2 : Pour garder ses supporters, Avranches veut miser sur « l’aspect convivial » des matches|first=Pierre|last=MACHADO|date=19 October 2024|website=Ouest-France.fr}}</ref>

==Twin towns==
* {{Flagicon|France}} [[Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne|Saint-Gaudens]], France, since the autumn of 1944, when the town of Saint-Gaudens, [[Haute-Garonne]] fraternally assisted Avranches by giving clothing and food to it
*{{Flagicon|Germany}} [[Korbach]], Germany, since 1963
*{{Flagicon|JER}} [[Saint Helier]], Jersey, since 1982
*{{Flagicon|UK}} [[Crediton]], United Kingdom, since 1993

==Births==
Avranches was the birthplace of:
* General [[Jean-Marie Valhubert]] (1764–1805)
* [[Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour]] (1827–1896), statesman
* [[Jean-Luc Ponty]] (born 1942), [[violin]]ist and [[jazz]] [[composer]]
* [[Samuel Le Bihan]] (born 1965), a movie actor.
* [[Hamon de Massey]], Norman lord in the barony of Chester.

== See also ==

* [[Grand Doyenné of Avranches]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Avranches}}
{{EB1911 poster|Avranches}}
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Council of Avranches}}
{{Portalbar|Middle Ages|England}}
{{Manche communes}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Communes of Manche]]
[[Category:Subprefectures in France]]
[[Category:Gallia Lugdunensis]]