Villerest

Villerest
A general view of Villerest
Coat of arms
Villerest
Location within Rhône-Alpes region Villerest
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Loire
Arrondissement	Roanne
Canton	Roanne-Sud
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération Grand Roanne Agglomération
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Paul Court
Area1	14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	4,392
• Density	300/km2 (770/sq mi)
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. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

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

See also

• Communes of the Loire department

International Relations

Twin towns - sister cities

Villerest is twinned with:

• Piatra Neamţ, Romania and Storrington, West Sussex, England.