Crest, Drôme

Crest
Commune
The town seen from the tower
Coat of arms
Location of Crest
Crest Crest
Coordinates: 44°43′45″N 5°01′22″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Drôme
Arrondissement	Die
Canton	Crest
Intercommunality	Val de Drôme
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Hervé Mariton (LR)
Area 1	23.38 km2 (9.03 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	8,756
• Density	370/km2 (970/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	26108 /26400
Elevation	166–463 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 is a commune in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 8,505.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1793 4,500 —     1800 4,500 +0.0% 1806 4,370 −2.9% 1821 4,335 −0.8% 1831 4,901 +13.1% 1836 4,983 +1.7% 1841 4,948 −0.7% 1846 5,079 +2.6% 1851 5,423 +6.8% 1856 5,110 −5.8% 1861 5,460 +6.8% 1866 5,351 −2.0% 1872 5,568 +4.1% 1876 5,600 +0.6% 1881 5,535 −1.2% 1886 5,669 +2.4% 1891 5,569 −1.8%

Year Pop. ±% 1896 5,582 +0.2% 1901 5,579 −0.1% 1906 5,660 +1.5% 1911 5,536 −2.2% 1921 5,005 −9.6% 1926 5,250 +4.9% 1931 5,379 +2.5% 1936 5,513 +2.5% 1946 5,359 −2.8% 1954 5,773 +7.7% 1962 6,207 +7.5% 1968 7,140 +15.0% 1975 7,519 +5.3% 1982 7,518 −0.0% 1990 7,583 +0.9% 1999 7,739 +2.1% 2008 7,793 +0.7%

Its inhabitants are called Crestois.

Sights

• 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.

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• 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.

Twin towns

Crest is twinned with:

- Cromer in Norfolk, England,

- Nidda in Germany and

- Ponte San Nicolò in Italy.

A twinning agreement has also been signed with the Slovenian town of Medvode.

See also

• Communes of the Drôme department
• Parc naturel régional du Vercors

References

Drôme River at Crest