ALAIS, a flourishing town of France, in the department of the Gard, on the right bank of the Gardon, at the foot of the Cevennes, 25 miles north-north-west of Nîmes, with which it is united by rail. In the 17th century it was a stronghold of the French Protestants, and was besieged and taken by Louis XIII. in 1629. It has a citadel, erected by Louis XIV., a fine Gothic church, and a mining school. The town itself has considerable manufactures of ribands, silk, earthenware, glass, and vitriol; but its prosperity is chiefly derived from the adjacent mineral field, which was opened up in 1819, and yields great quantities of coal and iron, as well as zinc, lead, and manganese. The numerous mines, blast furnaces, and iron foundries, afford employment to many workmen. There are cold mineral springs in the vicinity, which attract large numbers of visitors during the summer months. Population in 1872, 19,230.