Crest, Drôme

Coordinates: 44°43′45″N 5°01′22″E / 44.7292°N 5.0228°E / 44.7292; 5.0228
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crest
The town seen from the tower
The town seen from the tower
Coat of arms of Crest
Location of Crest
Map
Crest is located in France
Crest
Crest
Crest is located in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Crest
Crest
Coordinates: 44°43′45″N 5°01′22″E / 44.7292°N 5.0228°E / 44.7292; 5.0228
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
DepartmentDrôme
ArrondissementDie
CantonCrest
IntercommunalityCrestois et Pays de Saillans Cœur de Drôme
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Hervé Mariton[1] (LR)
Area
1
23.38 km2 (9.03 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
8,756
 • Density370/km2 (970/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
26108 /26400
Elevation166–463 m (545–1,519 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Crest (French pronunciation: [kʁɛ][3][4][5]) is a commune in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France.

Population[edit]

Its inhabitants are called Crestois in French.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 4,500—    
1800 4,500+0.00%
1806 4,370−0.49%
1821 4,335−0.05%
1831 4,901+1.23%
1836 4,983+0.33%
1841 4,948−0.14%
1846 5,079+0.52%
1851 5,423+1.32%
1856 5,110−1.18%
1861 5,460+1.33%
1866 5,351−0.40%
1872 5,568+0.66%
1876 5,600+0.14%
1881 5,535−0.23%
1886 5,669+0.48%
1891 5,569−0.36%
1896 5,582+0.05%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 5,579−0.01%
1906 5,660+0.29%
1911 5,536−0.44%
1921 5,005−1.00%
1926 5,250+0.96%
1931 5,379+0.49%
1936 5,513+0.49%
1946 5,359−0.28%
1954 5,773+0.93%
1962 6,207+0.91%
1968 7,140+2.36%
1975 7,519+0.74%
1982 7,518−0.00%
1990 7,583+0.11%
1999 7,739+0.23%
2007 7,789+0.08%
2012 8,095+0.77%
2017 8,505+0.99%
Source: EHESS[6] and INSEE (1968-2017)[7]

Sights[edit]

The Tour de Crest, one of the highest medieval keeps in France - 52 m. Its height dominates the town. The tower was part of a castle which guarded one of the entrances to the Pre-Alps in Drôme. The site offers a large panoramic view. There are various exhibitions in the castle plus information about the Tour's past including the fact that it has served as a prison in the past.

The Tour holds two spectacular carved wooden doors one of which is believed to depict the original castle.

Saint-Sauveur Church

Monument to the resistance to the coup d'état of 2 December 1851 in Provence.

There is an artisanal chocolate manufacturer in the town with a chocolate museum attached. The museum has a model of the tour in chocolate and various scenes in the history of chocolate also created in chocolate.

The town is still substantially medieval with steep narrow lanes leading up to the Tour.

Transport[edit]

Crest is served by Gare de Crest, a railway station operated by SNCF, with TER connections to Valence and Briançon on the Livron to Aspres-sur-Buëch line.

Twin towns[edit]

Crest is twinned with:

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 6 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Festival "Crest Jazz vocal", archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 16 July 2021
  4. ^ Municipales 2020 : débat du second tour à Crest (Drôme), archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 16 July 2021
  5. ^ Patrimoine : Crest, le plus haut donjon de France !, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 16 July 2021
  6. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Crest, EHESS (in French).
  7. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
Drôme River at Crest

External links[edit]