Alès

Alès

France
      town, Gard département, Languedoc-Roussillon région, southeastern France. It lies along a bend of the Gardon d'Alès River, at the foot of the Cévennes mountains, north-northwest of Nîmes. The town's name meant “industry” in the language of its 10th-century-BC Phoenician founders. Alestium was its Roman name, and until 1926 the French called it Alais. Chartered in 1200, it became part of the kingdom of France in 1243. The Peace of Alais (1629) ended the French Wars of Religion, in which the town had been seriously damaged. Completed in 1788, a fort designed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (Vauban, Sébastien Le Prestre de), the celebrated military engineer, is now a museum and library. Although Alès was traditionally an area of textile production, coal mining and metallurgy became the basis for industrial development in the town. Since the 1960s, however, these activities have been in decline (accompanied by a loss of population), prompting the restructuring of the local economy. New industries, such as mechanical engineering, were introduced; central areas of the town were refurbished; and attempts were made to develop tourism. Pop. (1999) 39,346; (2005 est.) 40,000.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • Alès — Alès …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ales — may mean:* Ale, a fermented alcoholic beverage. * Alès, a town and commune in southern France. * Ales (Sardinia), a small town in the province of Oristano on Sardinia in Italy. * Ales (1921 Automobile), a 1920s Japanese automobileAleš may refer… …   Wikipedia

  • AlÈS — (or Alez; until 1926, Alais; אַלִיץ in Hebrew sources), town in Provence, S.E. France. There was a Jewish community there in the Middle Ages. solomon b. abraham adret refers in a responsum to a custom followed in the communities between Narbonne… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Ales — steht für: Alès, ein Ort in Südfrankreich in der Region Languedoc Roussillon Ales (Sardinien), ein Ort in Italien in der Region Sardinien Aleš, slowenische Form von Alexander Ales stenar, skandinavische Schiffssetzung …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • ales — ales; do·thid·e·ales; gink·go·ales; si·phon·ales; …   English syllables

  • Alès — (Alais av. 1926) v. de France, ch. l. d arr. du Gard, sur le gardon d Alès; 42 296 hab. Grand centre protestant du XVIe s. La paix d Alais (1629) mit fin à la dernière guerre de Religion …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Alès —   [a lɛs], bis 1926 Alais [a lɛ], Industriestadt in Südfrankreich, im Département Gard, größte Siedlung am Fuß der Cevennen, 41 000 Einwohner; liegt am Südrand des gleichnamigen (inzwischen weitgehend ausgekohlten) Steinkohlenreviers;  … …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Ales [1] — Ales, Stadt auf der Insel Sardinien, Bischof, 2000 (4000) Ew.; einst Ufellis …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Ales [2] — Ales (röm. Ant.), Vogel beim Augurium, s.d …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Ales [3] — Ales, 1) Alexander von A., s. Alexander von Hales. 2) (spr. Ehls) Alex. von A., geb. 1500 zu Edinburg; studirte Anfangs Theologie, gewann zu Köln Neigung zu Luthers Lehre, begab sich nach Wittenberg, ging 1535 nach England u. lehrte öffentlich… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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