AUBENAS  , a

town of south-eastern France, in the department of Ardeche, 19 m . S.W. of Privas by road . Pop . (1906) 3976 (town), 7064 (commune) . Aubenas is beautifully situated on the slope of a hill, on the right bank of the Ardeche, but its streets generally are crooked and narrow . It has a castle of the 13th and 16th centuries, now occupied by several of the public institutions of the town . These include a tribunal and chamber of commerce, and a conditioning-house for silk . Iron and coal mines are worked in the vicinity . As the centre of the silk trade of southern France Aubenas is a place of considerable traffic . It has also a large silk spinning and weaving industry, and carries on tanning and various minor industries together with trade in silk . The district is rich in plantations of mulberries and olives .