CREST  , a

town of south-eastern France, in the department of Drdme, on the right bank of the Drome, 20 M . S.S.E. of Valence by rail . Pop . (1906) town, 3971; commune, 566o . It carries on silk-worm breeding, silk-spinning, and the manufacture of woollens, paper, leather and cement . There is trade in truffles . On the rock which commands the town stands a huge keep, the sole survival of a castle (12th century) to which Crest was indebted for its importance in the middle ages and the Religious Wars . The rest of the castle was destroyed in the first half of the 17th century, after which the keep was used as a state prison . Crest ranked for a time as the capital of the duchy of Valentinois, and in that capacity belonged before the Revolution to the prince of Monaco . The communal charter, graven on stone and dating from the 12th century, is preserved in the public archives . Ten miles south-east of Crest lies the picturesque Forest of Saon .