ClasséChâteau · protected 1958Château de VoltairePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Chateau de Voltaire · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Château de Voltaire · Photo: Chateau de Voltaire · CC BY-SA 4.05historic monuments
History of Ferney-Voltaire · Monuments historiques
5 historic monuments, 2 classé
Ferney-Voltaire has 4.1 monuments for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 65% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest monuments in Ferney-Voltaire date from the 18th century. We have photos of 5 of Ferney-Voltaire’s monuments.
Monuments historiques
5
4.1 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
2
the highest protection
Inscrit
3
the second level
Oldest part
18th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
2.5%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Ferney-Voltaire in 5 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Église Notre-Dame-de-l'AssomptionClassé
MaisonInscrit
Maison de LoesInscrit
FontaineInscrit+1See 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 Ferney-Voltaire’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscrit
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
5 monuments by protection
2 Classé3 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.
Classé
2 classé monuments in Ferney-Voltaire
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 2 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséChurch · protected 1988Église Notre-Dame-de-l'AssomptionPhoto: Ludovic Péron · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
3 inscrit monuments in Ferney-Voltaire
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritHouse · protected 1988Maison de LoesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Ludovic Péron · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritFountain · protected 1988Fontaine, rue de MeyrinPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Ludovic Péron · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritHouse · protected 1986Maison, 33 rue de GenèvePhoto: Ludovic Péron · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
How old
How old Ferney-Voltaire’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.0
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution4
19th century 1801–19001
20th century and later since 19010
The oldest dated: Château de Voltaire (18th c.).
Age of homes
2.5% of homes in Ferney-Voltaire were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
2.5%
Before 1919
0.8%
1919–45
13%
1946–70
33%
1971–90
19%
1991–2005
32%
2006 on
Ferney-VoltaireMedian compared French town
2.5% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1971 and 1990 than in any other period (33%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Towns its size
Ferney-Voltaire has the 7th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 11,900 to 12,400 residents, by historic monuments.
Ferney-Voltaire5
#7 of 41for monuments per resident (4.1 per 10,000). Most per resident: Castelnaudary, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Saint-Gaudens.
The median town of these has 2. 8 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Ferney-Voltaire
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferney-Voltaire | 12,094 | 5 | 2 | — |
| Prévessin-Moëns | 9,153 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Ornex | 5,082 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Ségny | 2,941 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Genis-Pouilly | 14,432 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Cessy | 5,832 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Gex | 13,627 | 2 | 0 | — |
In brief
Ferney-Voltaire in brief
The official list counts 5 historic monuments in Ferney-Voltaire, 2 of them classé. Château de Voltaire is one of the Maisons des Illustres, the homes of people who left their mark on France. Only 6 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Of the 5 with a date, 4 come from the 16th to 18th centuries. The oldest is Château de Voltaire, from the 18th century.
Its homes are mostly newer: 2.5% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. The rest is about typical: most entries are houses and homes; per resident it sits near the middle of compared French towns; and Adolphe Fraisse (1835) and Louis Delachenal (1897) were born here before 1900.
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 Ferney-Voltaire
How many historic monuments are there in Ferney-Voltaire?
The Culture ministry lists 5 historic monuments in Ferney-Voltaire: 2 classé and 3 inscrit.
Which monuments in Ferney-Voltaire are classé?
2, among them Château de Voltaire and Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption.
How old are the monuments of Ferney-Voltaire?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 18th century.
When were monuments in Ferney-Voltaire first protected?
The first in 1958, the latest in 1988.
How old are the homes in Ferney-Voltaire?
2.5% 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.