Alès

French town in the département of Gard, 45 km/28 mi southwest of Nîmes, on the River Gardon in the foothills of the Cévennes; population (1999) 39,300. Its high-technology industries make it an important industrial centre; silk, glass, and metal goods are also manufactured.

Alès was a stronghold of the Huguenot religious dissenters. Cardinal Richelieu signed a treaty with the Huguenots here in 1629, granting them liberty of conscience but suppressing some political privileges.

Attractions include its many parks including Jardin du Bosquet and La Parc du Colombier, the Cathedral of St John, two museums, and La Cratere theatre. The Ecole des Mines d'Alés forms part of the French ‘Grandes Ecoles’, the leading French Institutions for Engineering and Applied Sciences.