The New International Encyclopædia/Aurillac

AURILLAC, ō̇′re′yȧk′ (probably from Aurelius, the Roman Emperor). A town of France, capital of the Department of Cantal (Auvergne), situated in a pleasant valley on the banks of the Jordanne, about 269 miles south of Paris (Map: France, J 7). It is said to owe its origin to a Benedictine monastery, founded in the Ninth Century, by Saint Géraud. The streets are wide but irregular, and are kept clean by streams supplied by a reservoir above the town and by a canal from the Jordanne. The neighboring quarries supply slates to cover the houses. The principal buildings of Aurillac are the churches of Notre Dame and Saint Géraud, the castle of Saint Etienne; the theatre; the college buildings, which contain a valuable public library; and the grain market. There is also a monument erected to the memory of the French philanthropist, M. de Montyon. Paper, jewelry, lace, copper utensils, leather, and lime are the chief industrial products. The English, in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, often besieged the town, and it was frequently taken and pillaged during the religious wars in France in the Sixteenth Century. Pope Sylvester II., whose statue is to be seen at Aurillac, was born there, as was the infamous Carrier of the first French Revolution. Population, in 1896, 13,531.