With a population of 40,000, Alès - the department's2nd largest city after Nîmes - lays claim to its status as the capital of the Cévennes. This melting pot of Huguenot Protestantism (16th, 17th and 18th centuries) was the birthplace of the "Peace of Alais", putting an end to the Wars of Religion (edict signed in 1729). During this period, silkworms ensured the wealth of the region, the town and its inhabitants, who made their living from textiles thanks to trade. A century later, the arrival of the railroads and the industrial revolution led to an energy transition towards coal. Small, family-run, artisanal farms gave way to large companies... Alès became one of Languedoc-Roussillon's industrial powerhouses. Alès and the surrounding area retain important traces of this mining epic, with which many other major industries were associated. In the background, alongside l'Ermitage, where excavations have unearthed Neolithic remains, lies the mine's slag heap, which is slowly burning away: burnt down in 2004, the coal waste that makes it up is still burning, as the heart of the slag heap is impenetrable. This combustion, invisible to the eye in fine weather, diffuses trails of steam in wet weather, giving the dome that dominates the town the appearance of a volcano. This "peaceful eruption" could well last... Today, tourism, sustainable development, SMEs and motor sports are revitalizing a town that is undergoing a radical and gradual reconversion.

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Alès Gilles Paire - Fotolia
Course à pied. satori - Fotolia
Alès Gilles Paire - Fotolia

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