Alès lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) 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.

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. No longer a residential bishopric, Arisitum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

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.

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. It was suppressed after the French Revolution, and its territory was divided between the diocese of Avignon and the diocese of Mende.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 10,020 —     1800 8,944 −1.61% 1806 9,387 +0.81% 1821 9,906 +0.36% 1831 12,077 +2.00% 1836 13,566 +2.35% 1841 15,884 +3.21% 1846 17,838 +2.35% 1851 18,871 +1.13% 1856 20,084 +1.25% 1861 20,257 +0.17% 1866 19,964 −0.29% 1872 19,230 −0.62% 1876 20,893 +2.10% 1881 22,255 +1.27% 1886 22,514 +0.23% 1891 24,356 +1.59% 1896 24,382 +0.02%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 24,940 +0.45% 1906 27,435 +1.93% 1911 29,831 +1.69% 1921 36,455 +2.03% 1926 42,021 +2.88% 1931 43,248 +0.58% 1936 41,385 −0.88% 1946 34,731 −1.74% 1954 36,893 +0.76% 1962 41,360 +1.44% 1968 42,818 +0.58% 1975 44,245 +0.47% 1982 43,268 −0.32% 1990 41,037 −0.66% 1999 39,346 −0.47% 2009 41,432 +0.52% 2014 39,993 −0.70% 2020 42,867 +1.16%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968–2020)

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."

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

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."

• Parc botanique de la Tour Vieille

• Rigord (c. 1150 – c. 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
• Laurent Blanc (born 1965), footballer
• Stéphane Sarrazin (born 1975), sportscar racing driver, rally driver
• Romain Dumas (born 1977), sportscar racing driver
• 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. Alphonse Daudet wrote his semi-autobiographical novel "Le Petit Chose" while teaching at the Collège of Alès.

Alès is twinned with:

• Kilmarnock, Scotland, United Kingdom

• Communes of the Gard department

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alès.

• Alès travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official website (in French)
• The Regordane Way or St Gilles Trail which runs through Alès