Palais épiscopal d'Alès, palace and classified historical monument in Alès, France

The palais épiscopal d'Alès is a two-storey building of light beige ashlar with a red-tiled hipped roof and a brick chimney on the left ridge. Three round-arched openings pierce the ground floor, while the upper floor has three rectangular windows with dark frames and small iron balconies. A red square sign with a white "i" is fixed to the right section, and a black metal fence and bare tree stand before the left part.

The diocese of Alès was created on 17 May 1694 by a papal bull of Innocent XII. The third bishop, Charles de Bannes d'Avéjan, commissioned the palace: on 16 September 1724 he assigned the works to architect Guillaume Rollin for 81,000 livres, moved into a habitable part in June 1728, and work ended on 8 April 1741, costing the diocese nearly 130,000 livres. Suppressed at the Revolution, the building later served as an administrative and penitentiary site, then the seat of the Revolutionary Committee in year III, before being sold as national property in lots from 1792.

The name recalls the seven bishops who led the diocese created by papal bull on 17 May 1694. Charles de Bannes d'Avéjan, the third bishop, commissioned the palace in 1724 and moved in by June 1728. After the Revolution the building served as an administrative and penitentiary site, then as seat of the Revolutionary Committee in year III.

The former palace stands on the avenue that replaced its original entrance court, so the main facade is seen from the street; the yellow sign in front warns that the lower street is closed. The building is now occupied by the Caisse d'Épargne and is not open as a museum, so it is viewed from outside.

The bishop Charles de Bannes d'Avéjan spent nearly 40,000 livres of his own money on the interior decoration, separate from the roughly 130,000 livres the diocese paid for construction. The first two bishops of Alès had no palace at all and lodged in a rented house on rue Lafare.