Villerest

Villerest (French pronunciation: [vilʁɛ]; Arpitan: Vilarês) is a commune in the Loire department in central France. It is a Medieval-era commune located just south of the city of Roanne. The village is bordered by the river Loire.

Villerest
Commune
Coat of arms
Location of Villerest
Villerest Show map of France Villerest Show map of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates: 45°59′39″N 4°02′14″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Loire
Arrondissement	Roanne
Canton	Roanne-2
Intercommunality	Roannais Agglomération
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Philippe Perron[1]
Area 1	14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	5,175
• Density	350/km2 (900/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	42332 /42300
Elevation	261–426 m (856–1,398 ft) (avg. 360 m or 1,180 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 950 —     1800 435 −10.56% 1806 546 +3.86% 1821 587 +0.48% 1831 964 +5.09% 1836 1,030 +1.33% 1841 976 −1.07% 1846 1,006 +0.61% 1851 1,031 +0.49% 1856 1,130 +1.85% 1861 1,211 +1.39% 1866 1,208 −0.05% 1872 1,207 −0.01% 1876 1,227 +0.41% 1881 1,230 +0.05% 1886 1,281 +0.82% 1891 1,270 −0.17% 1896 1,218 −0.83%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 1,204 −0.23% 1906 1,201 −0.05% 1911 1,149 −0.88% 1921 976 −1.62% 1926 1,034 +1.16% 1931 1,127 +1.74% 1936 1,076 −0.92% 1946 1,039 −0.35% 1954 1,286 +2.70% 1962 1,524 +2.15% 1968 1,743 +2.26% 1975 2,239 +3.64% 1982 2,928 +3.91% 1990 4,104 +4.31% 1999 4,243 +0.37% 2007 4,414 +0.50% 2012 4,696 +1.25% 2017 4,902 +0.86%
Source: EHESS[3] and INSEE (1968-2017)[4]

Sights

• Le Barrage de Villerest, a hydroelectric dam that also prevents flooding along the Loire. This dam also creates a reservoir, the Lac de Villerest.
• The village itself contains many buildings from the Middle Ages.^[5] These include numerous houses, and the Eglise de Saint-Priest. Maybe most famous from this time period are the ramparts that are still mostly intact today.

International relations

Villerest is twinned with:

• Piatra Neamţ, Romania^[6] and Storrington, West Sussex, England.^[7]

See also

• Communes of the Loire department