{{short description|Subprefecture and commune in Occitanie, France}} {{Distinguish|Ales (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect|Alais|the Alais meteorite of 1806|Meteorite falls|people named Alais|Alais (surname)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox French commune |name = Alès |commune status = Subprefecture and commune |image = Cathédrale d'alès.JPG |caption = Alès Cathedral |image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Ales (Gard).svg |arrondissement = Alès |canton = Alès-1 <br /> Alès-2 <br /> Alès-3 |INSEE = 30007 |postal code = 30100 |mayor = Max Roustan<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 = 2020–2026 |intercommunality = Alès Agglomération |coordinates = {{coord|44.1281|4.0817|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |elevation m = 150 |elevation min m = 116 |elevation max m = 356 |area km2 = 23.16 |population = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}} |population date = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}} |population footnotes = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}} }}
'''Alès''' ({{IPA|fr|alɛs|lang|Fr-Alès.ogg}}) is a commune and subprefecture in the Gard department in the Occitania region in Southern France. Until 1926, it was officially known as ''Alais''.
==Geography== Alès lies {{convert|40|km|0|abbr=off}} north-northwest of Nîmes, on the left bank of the river Gardon d'Alès, which half surrounds it. It is located at the foot of the Cévennes, near the Cévennes National Park. Alès station has rail connections to Nîmes, Mende and Clermont-Ferrand.
==History== {{stack|thumb|200px|Fountain}} [[File:Town hall of Ales.jpg|thumb|The Hôtel de Ville]] Alès may be the modern successor of '''Arisitum''', where, in about 570, Sigebert, King of Austrasia, created a bishopric. In his campaign against the Visigoths, the Merovingian king Theudebert I (533–548) conquered part of the territory of the Diocese of Nîmes. His later successor Sigebert set up the new diocese, comprising fifteen parishes in the area controlled by the Franks, which included a number of towns to the north of the Cevenne: Alès, Le Vigan, Arre, Arrigas, Meyrueis, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, Anduze, and Vissec. The diocese disappeared in the 8th century with the conquest of the whole of Septimania by the Franks.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Louis |last=Saltet |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5675532m/f223.image.r= |title=L'évêché d'Arisitum |journal=Bulletin de littérature ecclésiastique, publié par l'Institut Catholique de Toulouse| volume=7–8 |date=1902 |pages=220–231 |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Louis |last=Duchesne |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k107955h/f325.image |title=Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule |volume=I |location=Paris |date=1907 |pages=316–317 |language=fr}}</ref> No longer a residential bishopric, Arisitum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 839</ref>
After the Edict of Nantes, Alès was one of the ''places de sûreté'' given to the Huguenots. Louis XIII took back the town in 1629, and the Peace of Alès, signed on 29 June of that year, suppressed the political privileges of the Protestants, while continuing to guarantee toleration.<ref name="EB1911"/>
At the request of Louis XIV, a see was again created at Alais by Pope Innocent XII, in 1694. The future Cardinal de Bausset, Bossuet's biographer, was Bishop of Alais from 1784 to 1790.<ref name="EB1911"/> It was suppressed after the French Revolution, and its territory was divided between the diocese of Avignon and the diocese of Mende. The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1755.<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00102950}}</ref>
==Demographics== {{Historical populations | align = none | cols = 2 | percentages = pagr | source = EHESS<ref name=ehess>{{Cassini-Ehess|347|Alès}}</ref> and INSEE (1968–2023)<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/8643952?geo=COM-30007#tableau-POPREF_G1 Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023], INSEE</ref> | graph-pos = bottom |1793 |10020 |1800 |8944 |1806 |9387 |1821 |9906 |1831 |12077 |1836 |13566 |1841 |15884 |1846 |17838 |1851 |18871 |1856 |20084 |1861 |20257 |1866 |19964 |1872 |19230 |1876 |20893 |1881 |22255 |1886 |22514 |1891 |24356 |1896 |24382 |1901 |24940 |1906 |27435 |1911 |29831 |1921 |36455 |1926 |42021 |1931 |43248 |1936 |41385 |1946 |34731 |1954 |36893 |1962 |41360 |1968 |42818 |1975 |44245 |1982 |43268 |1990 |41037 |1999 |39346 |2007 |40108 |2012 |41031 |2017 |40219 |2023 |46125 }}
==Economy== Alès is the centre of a mining district and hosts the École des Mines d'Alès.
Historically, according to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1911): :"The town is one of the most important markets for raw silk and cocoons in the south of France, and the Gardon supplies power to numerous silk-mills. It is also the centre of a mineral field, which yields large quantities of coal, iron, zinc and lead; its blast-furnaces, foundries, glass-works and engineering works afford employment to many workmen."<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Alais|volume=1|page=468}}</ref>
==Sports== The town has one association football team called Olympique Alès who currently play in the Championnat National.
==Sights== Historically, according to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition: :"The streets are wide and its promenades and fine plane-trees make the town attractive; but the public buildings, the chief of which are the Saint-Jean-Baptiste cathedral, a heavy building of the 18th century, and the citadel, which serves as barracks and prison, are of small interest."<ref name="EB1911"/>
{{clear left}}
* Parc botanique de la Tour Vieille
==Notable people== thumb|160px|Statue of Louis Pasteur *Rigord ({{circa|1150|1209}}), chronicler (probable birthplace) *Marguerite de Cambis (fl. 1550s), translator *Jean-Pierre des Ours de Mandajors (1679–1747), historian and playwright *Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800–1884), chemist *Gabriel Montoya (1868–1914), Parisian chansonnier *Charles Dugas (1885–1957), archaeologist and hellenist *Edgard de Larminat (1895–1962), general *Louis Leprince-Ringuet (1901–2000), physicist *Lucile Randon (1904–2023), supercentenarian and former world's oldest person *Maurice André (1933–2012), trumpeter *Catherine Daufès-Roux (born 1963), former Member of Parliament *Laurent Blanc (born 1965), footballer *Stéphane Sarrazin (born 1975), sportscar racing driver, rally driver *Romain Dumas (born 1977), sportscar racing driver *Audrey Lamy (born 1981), actress and humorist *Nabil El Zhar (born 1986), footballer *Vincent Abril (born 1995), sportscar racing driver
Louis Pasteur did his research on the silkworm disease (pébrine and flacherie) at Alès, and the town dedicated a bust to his memory. There is also a statue of the chemist J.B. Dumas.<ref name="EB1911"/> Alphonse Daudet wrote his semi-autobiographical novel "Le Petit Chose" while teaching at the Collège of Alès.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alès |website=Fédération d'Associations Eternel Alphonse Daudet (FederationAlphonseDaudet.fr) |language=fr |access-date=6 August 2020 |url=http://www.federationalphonsedaudet.fr/Chemins%20de%20Daudet%20ALES.htm |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930100549/http://www.federationalphonsedaudet.fr/Chemins%20de%20Daudet%20ALES.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Twin towns – sister cities== {{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in France}} Alès is twinned with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Town Twinning|url=https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/TourismAndVisitorAttractions/TouristInformation/Town-Twinning.aspx|website=east-ayrshire.gov.uk|publisher=East Ayrshire Council|access-date=2021-04-20}}</ref> *{{flagicon|SCO}} Kilmarnock, Scotland, United Kingdom
==Climate==
{{Weather box|width=auto |location = Alès (Saint-Christol-lès-Alès) (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1949−present) |single line = Y |metric first = Y |collapsed= Y |Jan record high C = 22.0 |Feb record high C = 24.4 |Mar record high C = 28.0 |Apr record high C = 32.0 |May record high C = 36.0 |Jun record high C = 43.4 |Jul record high C = 40.5 |Aug record high C = 44.1 |Sep record high C = 39.0 |Oct record high C = 33.0 |Nov record high C = 25.4 |Dec record high C = 21.5 |Jan record low C = -12.5 |Feb record low C = -17.8 |Mar record low C = -10.0 |Apr record low C = -3.1 |May record low C = -0.5 |Jun record low C = 3.0 |Jul record low C = 7.0 |Aug record low C = 5.0 |Sep record low C = 1.9 |Oct record low C = -2.5 |Nov record low C = -7.5 |Dec record low C = -13.0 |Jan high C = 11.4 |Feb high C = 13.0 |Mar high C = 17.2 |Apr high C = 20.1 |May high C = 24.3 |Jun high C = 29.2 |Jul high C = 32.5 |Aug high C = 32.0 |Sep high C = 26.7 |Oct high C = 20.7 |Nov high C = 15.1 |Dec high C = 11.6 |year high C = 21.1 |Jan mean C = 6.4 |Feb mean C = 7.3 |Mar mean C = 10.8 |Apr mean C = 13.7 |May mean C = 17.7 |Jun mean C = 22.0 |Jul mean C = 24.8 |Aug mean C = 24.4 |Sep mean C = 19.9 |Oct mean C = 15.4 |Nov mean C = 10.2 |Dec mean C = 6.9 |year mean C = 15.0 |Jan low C = 1.5 |Feb low C = 1.6 |Mar low C = 4.4 |Apr low C = 7.3 |May low C = 11.0 |Jun low C = 14.7 |Jul low C = 17.2 |Aug low C = 16.8 |Sep low C = 13.1 |Oct low C = 10.0 |Nov low C = 5.3 |Dec low C = 2.2 |year low C = 8.8 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 82.1 |Feb precipitation mm = 55.7 |Mar precipitation mm = 72.9 |Apr precipitation mm = 83.1 |May precipitation mm = 77.7 |Jun precipitation mm = 49.1 |Jul precipitation mm = 38.5 |Aug precipitation mm = 50.3 |Sep precipitation mm = 160.6 |Oct precipitation mm = 153.5 |Nov precipitation mm = 133.2 |Dec precipitation mm = 89.8 |year precipitation mm = 1046.5 |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm |Jan precipitation days = 7.1 |Feb precipitation days = 4.9 |Mar precipitation days = 5.6 |Apr precipitation days = 7.2 |May precipitation days = 7.5 |Jun precipitation days = 5.3 |Jul precipitation days = 3.8 |Aug precipitation days = 5.2 |Sep precipitation days = 5.9 |Oct precipitation days = 8.7 |Nov precipitation days = 8.8 |Dec precipitation days = 7.3 |year precipitation days = 77.4 |source 1 = Meteociel<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.meteociel.fr/obs/clim/normales_records.php?code=30243001 |title=Normales et records pour Saint-Christol-lès-Alès (30) |publisher=Meteociel |access-date=14 December 2024}}</ref>}}
==See also== *Communes of the Gard department
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{wikivoyage inline|Alès}} * [https://www.ales.fr/ Official website] (in French) * [https://gr700-regordane.com/en/index.htm The Regordane Way or St Gilles Trail] which runs through Alès
{{Gard communes}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ales}} Category:Communes of Gard Category:Subprefectures in France Category:Mining communities in France Category:Languedoc