Last modified: 2025-10-11 by olivier touzeau
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Flag of Le Coteau - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 29 September 2025
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Le Coteau (6,893 inhabitants, 489 ha) is a commune in the Loire department, 90 km (56 mi) northwest of Lyon on the right bank of the river Loire, opposite the larger town Roanne.
For a long time a simple hamlet belonging to the parish of Parigny (between Forez and Beaujolais), Le Coteau (litt. "the hillside") owes its name to its elevated location above the hills bordering the Loire River.
The first hamlet emerged in Varennes, on the banks of the Loire, due to the presence of a ford on the "Grand Chemin" (great road from Paris heading south) during the Gallo-Roman era. The village grew from the 15th century onwards, thanks to river and road traffic. From the early 18th century, the Cozon family settled on the banks of the Rhins River, where they owned a pavilion in the heart of a vast estate of woods and meadows. Their descendants built a manor house: the Ch teau de Rhins. It was expanded over time (mainly by the Marquis Marc-Louis de Tardy).
On March 15, 1833, France's third railway line between Andr zieux and Roanne (the first line in continental Europe) was opened for service. It ended at Les Varennes, on the right bank of the Loire, that is, at Le Coteau. Le Coteau was established as a commune on July 9, 1845, by decree of King Louis-Philippe. The town's real boom came after the sale of the Rhins estate (in 1886), which then surrounded Le Coteau on all sides, representing more than half of the town's surface area, thus allowing for its urbanization
Today, Le Coteau has more than 250 companies on its territory and is an important economic zone.
Olivier Touzeau, 29 September 2025
Olivier Touzeau, 29 September 2025