ClasséCathedral · protected 1906Cathédrale Saint-Jean-BaptistePhoto: Torsade de Pointes · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Évêché (ancien) · Photo: Benoît Prieur · CC011historic monuments
History of Belley · Monuments historiques
11 historic monuments, 4 classé
Belley has 12 monuments for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 88% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) is on the ministry’s list; its rules are still being drawn up. Belley’s oldest monuments date from the 13th century. 11 of Belley’s monuments are in our photos.
Monuments historiques
11
12 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
4
the highest protection
Inscrit
7
the second level
Oldest part
13th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
9.7%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Belley in 11 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Place de la cathédrale Saint-JeanClassé
Petit SéminaireClassé
Cathédrale Saint-Jean-BaptisteClassé
Hôtel de ville (ancien)Inscrit
Hôtel Brillat-SavarinInscrit+6See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Map
Where Belley’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste
3 of 4classé monuments stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste, with 9 of the town’s 11 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
11 monuments by protection
4 Classé7 Inscrit
Classé is the higher protection: any work on the building needs the State’s permission. Work on an inscrit building must be declared to the State in advance. Around both, building work in sight of the monument (usually within 500 m) needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
Points as the ministry gives them: a monument spread over several plots has one point. 1 monument has no point on the map.
Classé
4 classé monuments in Belley
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 4 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
ClasséMonument · protected 1846Petit SéminairePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Benoît Prieur · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséPublic building · protected 1944Place de la cathédrale Saint-JeanPhoto: Benoît Prieur · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
7 inscrit monuments in Belley
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritTown house · protected 1926Hôtel des Ducs de Savoie (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Groumfy69 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritHouse · protected 1973Maison du Vachat ou maison du GouverneurPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Groumfy69 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritHouse · protected 1971Maison May et ancien oratoirePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Benoît Prieur · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown house · protected 1944Hôtel de Province du Bugey (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Benoît Prieur · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown hall · protected 1944Hôtel de ville (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritSchool · protected 1981Lycée Lamartine (anciennement collège de Belley)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Benoît Prieur · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown house · protected 1926Hôtel Brillat-SavarinPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Benoît Prieur · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Belley
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes5
Public & civic3
Religious buildings1
Houses & homes: 5 of 11 monuments (45%). 1 is a religious building, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 2 have no domain on the list.
How old
How old Belley’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.0
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.3
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution5
19th century 1801–19000
20th century and later since 19010
3 of 8 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste (13th–19th c.). 3 monuments have no date on the list.
Protected area
A protected historic area is on its way in Belley
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR84-152 | – | Still being drawn up |
A site patrimonial remarquable protects a whole area rather than one building: inside it, building work follows the area’s own plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.
When protected
3 of Belley’s monuments were protected in 1944
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1846: Petit Séminaire. 3 were protected in 1944 alone. None has been added since 2011.
Born before 1900
13 people born in Belley before 1900
Their lives on one line.
César de Rochefort
François Parra
Antide Rubat
Jean Luc Anthelme Mollet
Georges Sibuet
Benoît Prosper Sibuet
Anthelme Collet
Anthelme Roselli-Mollet
Aristide Tendret
Joseph Chaley
Francisque Rive
Louis Grégori
Luc Roselli-Mollet
16001650170017501800185019001950
CR
César de Rochefort1630–1690 · French jurist, lexicographer and essayist
FP
François Parra1733–1821 · French military personnel
AR
Antide Rubat1751–1803 · French politician
JL
Jean Luc Anthelme Mollet1752–1834 · French politician
GS
Georges Sibuet1767–1828 · French politician
BP
Benoît Prosper Sibuet1773–1813 · French officer
AC
Anthelme Collet1785–1840 · French military personnel
AR
Anthelme Roselli-Mollet1796–1886 · French politician
Everyone born in Belley Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Belley has the 4th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 9,300 to 9,500 residents, by historic monuments.
Belley11
#4 of 41for monuments per resident (12 per 10,000). Most per resident: Molsheim, Condé-sur-l'Escaut and Nogent-le-Rotrou.
The median town of these has 2. 9 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Belley
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belley | 9,388 | 11 | 4 | Yes |
| Yenne Savoie | 3,026 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Culoz-Béon | 3,453 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Les Avenières Veyrins-Thuellin Isère | 7,698 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Genix-les-Villages Savoie | 3,095 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Le Bourget-du-Lac Savoie | 5,216 | 4 | 3 | — |
| La Biolle Savoie | 2,948 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Belley in brief
Measured per resident, Belley has more historic monuments than 88% of compared French towns. In all there are 11 historic monuments, 4 of them classé, including Évêché (ancien). Its classé monuments cluster together: 3 of them stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Only 3 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments.
Most of its dated monuments come from the 16th to 18th centuries: 5 of 8. The oldest, Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste, dates from the 13th century. Of the 13 people born here before 1900, the best known include César de Rochefort (1630), François Parra (1733) and Antide Rubat (1751). Otherwise the figures are ordinary: 9.7% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Monuments historiques. France protects buildings at two levels. Classé, the higher (about a third of the list), means any work needs the State’s permission; inscrit means work must be declared to the State in advance. The Culture ministry’s Mérimée base lists every protected building, and this page counts them.
- Partly protected. Many entries protect part of a building only (its façades and roofs, a staircase, a painted room). Each counts as one monument, like a fully protected one.
- Where a monument is counted. In the commune named on its protection, moved to today’s commune where communes have since merged. A monument listed for several communes counts in each.
- Sites patrimoniaux remarquables. Since 2016 France’s protected historic areas (the former secteurs sauvegardés, ZPPAUP and AVAP) share one name. Inside one, building work follows the area’s plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France.
- What isn’t here. Protected objects (furniture, organs, paintings), old buildings with no protection, UNESCO World Heritage listings and labels such as “Plus Beaux Villages de France” aren’t on this list, so this page doesn’t count them.
- No History Grade yet. Everything on this page is described, not graded: France’s History Grade isn’t built yet.
Questions about the history of Belley
How many historic monuments are there in Belley?
The Culture ministry lists 11 historic monuments in Belley: 4 classé and 7 inscrit.
Which monuments in Belley are classé?
4, among them Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Évêché (ancien), Petit Séminaire and Place de la cathédrale Saint-Jean.
How old are the monuments of Belley?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 13th century.
Is Belley a protected historic area?
One is on the way: a site patrimonial remarquable for Belley is on the ministry’s list, but its rules are still being drawn up.
When were monuments in Belley first protected?
The first in 1846, the latest in 1981.
How old are the homes in Belley?
9.7% of its main homes were built before 1919 (median compared French town: 7.4%).
France has no History Grade yet: this page describes, it doesn’t grade.
Sources: Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée base on POP (immeubles protégés au titre des monuments historiques), October 2026 · Ministère de la Culture, sites patrimoniaux remarquables, October 2026 · INSEE, census 2023 (main homes by build period) · Wikidata and Wikipedia (people born here) · Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata (photos of the monuments, each with its own credit and license) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.