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Origin and history

The Episcopal Palace of Alès was built in the second quarter of the eighteenth century to house the diocese of Alès, created in 1694 by a papal bubble of Innocent XII. The project was launched by Bishop Charles de Bannes d'Avéjan, who entrusted the work to architect Guillaume Rollin in 1724. The building, with a total cost of 130,000 pounds, was completed in 1741 after extensive work, and the bishop could move in partially as early as 1728. The palace, organized around a courtyard of honour, included a main building, two wings, outbuildings and pavilions, some of which were later destroyed or modified.

The diocese of Alès, abolished during the French Revolution, led to the sale of the palace as a national property in several lots between 1792 and 1798. It was transformed into an administrative building and later into the headquarters of the Revolutionary Committee and was partially acquired by individuals and institutions, such as the Caisse d'Epargne in 1868. In 1936, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Alès bought the whole to enlarge, before reselling it to Caisse d'Epargne in the 1970s. Ranked a historic monument in 1964, it bears witness to the religious architecture and political upheavals of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The original entrance to the court of honour disappeared when an avenue was enlarged, while the outbuildings were replaced by modern houses, altering the original alignment. The facades and roofs of the central building and wings were protected by arrest in 1964. Today, the building, located 6 Impasse de l'Évêché, remains a symbol of the Alesian heritage, marked by its ecclesiastical history and successive transformations.

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