Auxey-Duresses () 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.Google Maps

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

Administration List of Successive MayorsList of Mayors of France

From To Name 1790 1791 René Latour 1791 1811 Claude Delaplanche 1800 1802 Pierre Rouiller 1811 1816 Claude Fleurot 1816 1818 Brunet de la Serve 1819 1821 Flis Humbert 1821 1830 Brunet de la Serve 1831 1832 Mercier 1832 1834 Pierre Fleurot Marot 1834 1837 Louis Garnier 1837 1840 Pierre Roullier 1840 1844 Philbert Garnier Boillot 1844 1847 Claude Fleurot Battault 1847 1852 Claude Delaplanche Titard 1852 1854 Claude Fleurot Battault 1854 1865 Claude Delaplanche Titard 1865 1870 Rolland Meuriot 1870 1871 Hippolyte Veau 1871 1892 Claude Fleuront Malaquin 1892 1903 Jean-Baptiste Garnier Veau 1903 1919 Claude Matin Battault 1919 1934 Armand Veau

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.Le nom des habitants du 21 - Côte-d'Or, habitants.fr

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).Burgundy wines website

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)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée A Lavoir (Public laundry) at Meulin (1867)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée A Lavoir (Public laundry) at an unnamed place (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée A Lavoir (Public laundry) (19th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée

Religious heritage

The commune has several religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: The Church of Petit-Auxey (12th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée The Church of Saint-Martin (14th century).Ministry of Culture, Mérimée 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)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Painting: Fainting of Saint Theresa of Avila (17th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Painting: Saint Catherine of Sienna (17th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Painting: Saint Hyacinthe (17th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Painting: The dead Christ (17th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Retable (Triptych) depicting the life of the Virgin (16th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy A Cemetery CrossMinistry of Culture, Mérimée The Cemetery (15th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée

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

References

External links Auxey-Duresses on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website Auxey on the 1750 Cassini Map