CREST, a town of south-eastern France, in the department of Drome, on the right bank of the Drome, zo m. S.S.E. of Valence by rail. Pop. (1931) 3,730. On the rock which commands the town stands a huge keep, the sole survival of a castle (12th century) which made Crest important in the middle ages and the religious wars. The rest of the castle was destroyed in 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 so belonged before the Revolution to the prince of Monaco. The communal charter, graven on stone and dating from the 1 zth century, is preserved in the public archives. Crest is a busy little town, carrying on silk-worm breeding, silk-spinning and small manufactures of woollens, paper and leather. Ten miles south-east of Crest is the picturesque Forest of Saou, lying in a girdle of limestone peaks.