Alès

Alès is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region in southern France. It is one of the sub-prefectures of the department. It was formerly known as Alais.

Government
Country	France
Region	Occitanie
Department	Gard
Mayor (2020–2026)	Max Roustan
Area¹	23.16 km² (8.94 sq mi)
Population (2017-01-01)	40,219
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)

Geography

Alès lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) north-northwest of Nîmes, on the left bank of the Gardon River, which half surrounds it. It is located at the foot of the Cévennes, near the Cévennes National Park.

Economy

Alès is the seat of the Alès Cévennes Chamber of Commerce and Industry . It manages the Alès Cévennes aerodrome and the apprentice training center .

Fairs

The town hosts three traditional fairs which take place each year:

Saint-Antoine fair, the January 17th ;
spring fair, the April 27 ;
Saint-Barthélémy fair, the August 24 ;

These dates are postponed to the next day if they correspond to a Sunday or a public holiday.

Industries

PGO , car manufacturer specializing in small series.
Crouzet Automatismes (Schneider Electric Group): manufacture of electric micro-motors – head office in Valence .
Merlin Gerin (Schneider Electric Group): manufacture of circuit breakers – employed 346 people in 2016.
LFB Biomanufacturing (LFB Group): biotechnology manufacturing of therapeutic proteins – employed 67 people in 2017.

Agriculture

The town is part of the olive production area of Nîmes .

Transports

Airfield Deaux -Alès.
Aerodrome of La Grand-Combe -Alès

Public transport

The network, called NTecC (Nouveau Transport en Commun Cévenol), extends over one hundred municipalities in the Alésian basin and is divided into two zones.

Rail

Connected to the SNCF network ( Saint-Germain-des-Fossés – Nîmes-Courbessac line ), the ” Le Cévenol ” train which linked Paris to Marseille by the Cévennes line. To reach Paris, it is also possible to go through Nîmes and then take a TGV . The average journey time is4 h / 4 h 30 min depending on the connections.

Education

The town of Alès has five high schools: the Jean-Baptiste Dumas, de La Salle, Jacques Prévert and Bellevue high schools and the private vocational high school Cévenol.

Higher education and research

IMT Mines Alès , engineering school.
Institute for Training in Nursing Care (IFSI) and nursing assistants of the Alès hospital center. The Institute cooperates, through its documentation center, with the Library of the University of Montpellier .
European Institute of Sports Mechanics (IEMS), founded in 1989 . Large school of senior technicians in motor racing.
DIGIT’Alès, founded in 2019 . Campus dedicated to digital technologies .

Culture

Cultural events and festivities

Epiphany concert, free classical music concert, at the Cratère (first Sunday in January)
At the beginning of March, the Alès Itinérances Cinema Festival offers more than two hundred films in six theaters in the city and welcomes nearly 45,000 spectators every year.
Festival de la Meuh Folle (March), contemporary music festival.
Since 2004, Alès has hosted in the Rochebelle district a structure labeled National Circus Pole : the Verrerie d’Alès .
Ascension weekend , Alès feria in the Temperas arena .
Night of Museums (May). Set up in 2005, this event offers the discovery of museums at night.
Week Fools Singing Ales , last week of July.
National Stage Crater Theater
Cratère Surfaces, street arts festival (early July).
Estiv’Alès, activities in the heart of town (July-August)
Nuit des Camisards, a play retracing the beginnings of the Camisards War , performed outdoors (July-August)
Association festival (September)
Cévennes week (October, every two years). This free event, created in 2010 by the City of Alès, aims to showcase a piece of Cévennes history at each edition.
Christmas festivities (December)

Civil buildings

Fort Vauban

The Fort Vauban ( xvii ^th century) is registered as a historical monument. The citadel of Alès, known as Fort Vauban, was built in 1688 the day after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes . It was built on the Butte de la Roque which dominated the city, on the site of the two castles of the Lords of Alès. Its role was twofold: to shelter a garrison which controlled those whose Protestant faith had just been banned and to lock up the recalcitrant. Surrounded by its park, it is the place, in summer, for many shows in and around its green theater. Very beautiful ” horseshoe ” staircase said of the Maréchale.

Hermitage Hill

The Hermitage hill is the site of the remains of a pre-Roman oppidum (listed as a historic monument ). From the belvedere of the chapel surmounted by a statue of the Virgin, known as “ Notre-Dame des Mines ”, a unique viewpoint over the city and a magnificent panorama of the Cévennes .

Other buildings

Barracks Thoiras ( xviii ^th century), listed historical monument
Field of Batejade ( xviii ^th century)
War memorial , listed as historical monuments
The Town Hall
The arenas of Temperas
Town Hall Prim
Fontaine Estelle and Némorin

Parks and environment

Parc de Conilhères ( 2.2 ha ), labeled “eco-garden” in 2014
Colombier Park
Parc du Bosquet, created in 1836
Park of the Pierre-André-Benoit museum-library
Park Old Tower ( xix ^th century)
Parc floral de la Prairie , classified. It includes nearly three hundred varieties of camellias represented by more than 1,000 individuals, some of which are centenarians, unique in France. Other plants have been introduced in the Park: magnolias , flowering cherry , Cornus , Maples Japanese , hydrangeas , azaleas ..

Cultural heritage

Museums

Witness mine that traces the history of coal in the region.
Pierre-André-Benoit museum-library whose collections of modern and contemporary art ( Picasso , Picabia , Braque …).
Mineralogical museum of the École des mines which includes three collections:
- a mineralogical collection , of national interest;
- a paleontological collection , an interesting panorama of local fossil organisms;
- a petrographic collection , primarily educational, dedicated to regional rocks and natural materials.
Colombier Museum, rich collection of local archeology and collection of fine arts ( Jean Bellegambe , Jan Brueghel the Elder known as Velours …).

Cinema

Alès has a multiplex : the Multiplex CinéPlanet, which has eight theaters (1,312 seats), with Dolby Atmos .

Art and culture

Crater Theater

The Crater welcomes each year, from September to July, more than 80,000 spectators for its shows widely open to artistic expressions. The theater, dance, music, circus and street arts are privileged by giving priority to contemporary creation, with a policy of residencies and partnerships.

La Verrerie d’Alès

La Verrerie d’Alès is one of the 13 French cultural institutions labeled Pôle national cirque. Established since 2004 on the former industrial site of the Verrerie de Rochebelle, La Verrerie d’Alès is a place of reception in residence and support for the creation of circus shows.

Other:

Alphonse-Daudet Media Library .
Conservatory inter Maurice André

Monuments and notable places close

Castle Doors ( xii ^th century) classified historic monument
Tornac Castle ( xi ^th century- xii ^th century), a listed building
Great Temple ( xix ^th century) in Anduze , a listed building
Bridge Camisards ( xvii ^th century- xviii ^th century), in Mialet , a listed building
Chateau Allegre ( xii ^th century), registered historic building
Aujac Cheylard ( xii ^th century), registered historic building
Castle Castellas ( xii ^th century) at Saint-Bonnet-de-Salendrinque , registered historic building
Bamboo Prafrance ( xix ^th century), in Générargues , registered historical monument
Clock Tower ( xiii ^th century- xviii ^th century) in Anduze , registered historical monument
Castle of Ribaute-les-Tavernes ( xviii ^th century), registered historic building
Castle Rousson ( xvii ^th century), registered historic building
Castle Tower ( xiii ^th century- xiv ^th century), the Salles du Gardon , registered historic building, etc.

Sports

The town has one association football team called Olympique Alès who currently play in the Championnat National.