Beauchastel

Beauchastel
Commune
A general view of Beauchastel
Beauchastel
Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region  Beauchastel
Coordinates: 44°49′36″N 4°48′14″E / 44.8267°N 4.8039°E / 44.8267; 4.8039Coordinates: 44°49′36″N 4°48′14″E / 44.8267°N 4.8039°E / 44.8267; 4.8039
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Ardèche
Arrondissement	Privas
Canton	Rhône-Eyrieux
Intercommunality	Agglomeration Community of Privas Centre Ardèche
Government
• Mayor (1995–2020)	Alain Valla
Area1	8.46 km2 (3.27 sq mi)
Population (2012)2	1,747
• Density	210/km2 (530/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	07027 /07800
Elevation	96–560 m (315–1,837 ft) (avg. 100 m or 330 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Beauchastel is a commune in the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Beauchastellois or Beauchastelloises.

Beauchastel is located some 10 km south by south-west of Valence and 20 km north-east of Privas. Access to the commune is by the D86 road from Charmes-sur-Rhône in the north which passes through the commune and continues south to La Voulte-sur-Rhône. The D86E branches from the D86 at the northern communal border and goes to the town then continues south to rejoin the D86 at La Voulte-sur-Rhône. The D21 goes west from the town to Saint-Laurent-du-Pape. The east of the commune includes a portion of the Île Saint-Thimé in the Rhône river which is also the departmental border with Drôme. A railway line from Saint-Péray in the north to La Voulte-sur-Rhône in the south passes through the commune but there is no station in the commune. The commune consists of a large urban area along the banks of the Rhône with farmland south of the Eyrieux and forested hills for the rest.

A branch of the Rhône forms the eastern border of the commune with the main branch flowing south through the commune and continuing to eventually joining the sea at Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone. The Eyrieux river flows through the commune from the west to join the Rhône just south of the commune. Numerous streams rise in the commune and flow south to feed the Eyrieux including the Ruiseeau de Thouac (which forms the western border of the commune), the Ruisseau d'Abrou, and the Ruisseau de Chauvert. The Ruisseau de Feuillas flows east through the north of the commune to join the Rhône. There is a dam on the main branch of the Rhône with an electricity generating station: the Centrale Electrique de Beauchastel. Beauchastel was often the victim of floods of the Eyrieux, until the construction of a damin the upper reaches of the river in 1860.