VICH  , a

city of north-eastern Spain, in the province of Barcelona, on the river Gurri, a small right-hand tributary of the Ter, and on the Granollers-Ripoll railway . Pop . (1900) 11,628 . Vich is an ancient episcopal city, with narrow, ill-paved streets and many curious old houses irregularly built on the slope of a hill, which rises above one of the side valleys of the Ter basin . The cathedral, founded about 1040 and built chiefly in the r4th century, was to some extent modernized in 1803 . Its Gothic cloisters (1340) are remarkable for the beautiful tracery in their windows, and there is a fine altar of sculptured marble . Some valuable manuscripts are preserved in the library of the chapter-house, and the museum contains an interesting archaeological collection, besides statuary, pictures, &c . The city is locally celebrated for the manufacture of sausages; other industries include tanning and the weaving of linen and woollen fabrics . Vich, the Ausa of the ancient geographers, was the chief town of the Ausetani; in the middle ages it was called Ausona and Vicus Ausonensis, hence Vic de Osona, and simply Vich .