Editing Alès

{{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         = [[Subprefectures in France|Subprefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]]
|image                  = Cathédrale d'alès.JPG
|caption                = [[Alès Cathedral]]
|image coat of arms     = Blason ville fr Ales (Gard).svg
|arrondissement         = Alès
|canton                 = [[Canton of Alès-1|Alès-1]] <br /> [[Canton of Alès-2|Alès-2]] <br /> [[Canton of Alès-3|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&ndash;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 [[Communes of France|commune]] and [[Subprefectures in France|subprefecture]] in the [[Gard]] [[Departments of France|department]] in the [[Occitania (administrative region)|Occitania]] [[Regions of France|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|[[File:Ales Fountain.JPG|thumb|200px|Fountain]]}}
Alès may be the modern successor of '''Arisitum''', where, in about 570, [[Sigebert I|Sigebert]], King of [[Austrasia]], created a [[bishopric]]. In his campaign against the [[Visigoths]], the [[Merovingian dynasty|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, Gard|Le Vigan]], [[Arre, Gard|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]], [[Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet|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]].

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations
| align = none
| cols = 2
| percentages = pagr
| source = EHESS<ref name=ehess>{{Cassini-Ehess|347|Alès}}</ref> and INSEE (1968–2020)<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/7633058?geo=COM-30007#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], 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
|2009 |41432
|2014 |39993
|2020 |42867
}}

==Economy==
Alès is the centre of a mining district and hosts the [[École des mines d'Alès|École des Mines d'Alès]].

Historically, according to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]] (1911):
:"The town is one of the most important markets for raw [[silk]] and [[Cocoon (silk)|cocoon]]s 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 [[Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Alès|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==
[[File:SilkAndPasteurAles.JPG|thumb|160px|Statue of Louis Pasteur]]
*[[Rigord]] ({{circa|1150|1209}}), [[chronicler]] (probable birthplace)
*[[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 (France)|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 [[Jean-Baptiste Dumas|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 [[Sister city|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|Alès}}
*{{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]]