ClasséEngineering work · protected 1916Borne milliaire dans l'établissement thermalPhoto: Romainbehar · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Etablissement thermal · Photo: Tabl-trai · CC BY-SA 4.051historic monuments
History of Vichy · Monuments historiques
51 historic monuments, more per resident than 95% of compared French towns
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 1997. The Culture ministry lists 51 historic monuments in Vichy: 4 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 47 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from Antiquity. We have photos of 37 of them.
Monuments historiques
51
20 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
4
the highest protection
Inscrit
47
the second level
Oldest part
Antiquity
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
10%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Vichy in 37 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Théâtre et grand CasinoClassé
Parc des SourcesClassé
Borne milliaire dans l'établissement thermalClassé
Maison dite du BailliageInscrit
Ancien couvent des CélestinsInscrit+32See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Towns its size
Vichy has the 2nd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 23,800 to 26,400 residents, by historic monuments.
Map
Where Vichy’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Etablissement thermal
3 of 4classé monuments stand within 400 m of Etablissement thermal, with 18 of the town’s 51 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
51 monuments by protection
4 Classé47 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 Vichy
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 2 of the 4 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséPublic building · protected 1989Etablissement thermalPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Tabl-trai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
ClasséPublic building · protected 1991Théâtre et grand CasinoPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Tabl-trai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
47 inscrit monuments in Vichy
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 47, A to Z
Ancien couvent des CélestinsAncien hôtel des AmbassadeursAncien hôtel RuhlAnciens chalets de l'Empereur et de l'ImpératriceCasino " le Cercle international "Chalet des RosesChalet du gardienÉglise Saint-Blaise et Notre-Dame-des-MaladesHôtel de villeImmeuble (confiserie Aux Marocains)Immeuble, 36 rue SalignatImmeuble, 39 rue de ParisKiosque du parc des BourinsMaison Art NouveauMaison dite Castel FlamandMaison dite Castel françaisMaison dite Castel gothiqueMaison dite Chalet de Clermont-TonnerreMaison dite Chalet des SuppliquesMaison dite Chalet Marie-LouiseMaison dite du Bailliagemaison dite Villa Charlotte, dite aussi Victor HugoMaison Le CastelMonument aux mortsPetit casino, actuellement centre culturel Valéry LarbaudPharmacie du ParcSource des CélestinsSource LardyStade équestre du SichonTemple protestantVilla Anne-MarieVilla Art NouveauVilla du Docteur FrémontVilla du Docteur MaireVilla HubertVilla JacobVilla JuriettiVilla Le MesnilVilla ManonVilla mauresqueVilla Mon PlaisirVilla ParvaVilla Saint-Michel-ArchangeVilla Van DyckVilla VénitienneVilla YvonnetteVilla, 8 rue Hubert-Colombier
3 more, named only by their kind
3 more are named in the list only by their kind: 2 buildings (immeubles) and 1 house (maison), most from the 20th century. The 3 with an address are in the list above, by it.
19th c.1
20th c.2
What’s protected
Most of Vichy’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes35
Public & civic8
Religious buildings3
Tombs & cemeteries1
Bridges & engineering1
Shops & trade1
Houses & homes: 35 of 51 monuments (69%). 3 are religious buildings.
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 Vichy’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.1
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.2
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution1
19th century 1801–190024
20th century and later since 190123
3 of 51 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Borne milliaire dans l'établissement thermal (Antiquity).
Protected area
Vichy has had a protected historic area since 1997
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR84-18 | ZPPAUP December 26, 1997 | AVAP (heritage area rules) March 29, 2019 |
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
13 of Vichy’s monuments were protected in 1988
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1988 · 13
1900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1916: Borne milliaire dans l'établissement thermal. 13 were protected in 1988 alone. 2 have been added since 2011.
Born before 1900
8 people born in Vichy before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Pierre Jacques Forestier
Félix Rougane de Chanteloup
Robert Du Bourg de Bozas
Maurice Germot
Louis Darragon
Albert Londres
Magda Julin
Louis Neillot
170017501800185019001950
MG
Maurice Germot1882–1958 · French tennis player
LD
Louis Darragon1883–1918 · French cyclist
AL
Albert Londres1884–1932 · French journalist and writer
MJ
Magda Julin1894–1990 · Swedish figure skater
PJ
Pierre Jacques Forestier1739–1823 · French politician
FR
Félix Rougane de Chanteloup1801–1890 · French politician
RD
Robert Du Bourg de Bozas1871–1902 · French explorer
LN
Louis Neillot1898–1973 · French painter
Everyone born in Vichy Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Vichy
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vichy | 25,115 | 51 | 4 | Yes |
| Cusset | 13,316 | 7 | 2 | — |
| Bellerive-sur-Allier | 8,943 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux | 3,205 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Abrest | 2,915 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Yorre | 2,641 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés | 3,579 | 1 | 1 | — |
In brief
Vichy in brief
Borne milliaire dans l'établissement thermal, from Antiquity, is the oldest monument in Vichy. All told, the list holds 51 historic monuments, 4 of them classé. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 95% of compared French towns. Its classé monuments cluster together: 3 of them stand within 400 m of Etablissement thermal. The Mission Patrimoine has picked 2 of its monuments as heritage in danger to save, Temple protestant first, in 2021.
Only one of the 41 towns nearest its size has more historic monuments. Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1997. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: 10% 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 Vichy
How many historic monuments are there in Vichy?
The Culture ministry lists 51 historic monuments in Vichy: 4 classé and 47 inscrit.
Which monuments in Vichy are classé?
4, among them Borne milliaire dans l'établissement thermal, Etablissement thermal, Parc des Sources and Théâtre et grand Casino.
How old are the monuments of Vichy?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.
Is Vichy a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Vichy has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1997.
When were monuments in Vichy first protected?
The first in 1916, the latest in 2022.
How old are the homes in Vichy?
10% 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.