1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Alais

ALAIS, a town of southern France, capital of an
arrondissement in the department of Gard, 25 m. N.N.W. of
Nimes on the Paris-Lyon railway, on which it is an important
junction. Pop. (1906) 18,987. The town is situated at
the foot of the Cevenues, on the left bank of the Gardon,
which half surrounds it. 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 church
of St Jean, a heavy building of the 18th century, and the
citadel, which serves as barracks and prison, are of small
interest. Pasteur prosecuted his investigations into the
silkworm disease at Alais, and the town has dedicated a bust
to his memory. There is also a statue of the chemist J. B.
Dumas. Alais has tribunals of first instance and of commerce,
a board of trade-arbitrators, a lycee and a school of
mines. 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 silkmills. 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.

In the 16th century Alais was an important Huguenot centre.
In 1629 the town was taken by Louis XIII., and by the peace
of Alais the Huguenots gave up their right to places de
surete (garrison towns) and other privileges. A bishopric
was established there in 1694 but suppressed in 1790. Category: