A secteur sauvegardé since 1966, and 98 historic monuments

Hôtel de villeClasséRempartsClasséThéâtre romainClasséAmphithéatre ou ArènesClasséAncien collège des Jésuites et ancien hôtel de Laval-Castellane, actuellement musée d'art chrétien et Museon ArlatenClassé+86See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.

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. A PSMV (plan de sauvegarde et de mise en valeur) is the strictest plan: it covers every building, inside as well as out.

The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.

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. 7 monuments have no point on the map.

12 more, named only by their kind

12 more are named in the list only by their kind: 6 houses (maisons), 5 buildings (immeubles) and 1 other. The 12 with an address are in the list above, by it.

See all 98 on the map

First protected, in 1840: Amphithéatre ou Arènes, Ancienne abbaye de Montmajour and Ancienne abbaye Saint-Césaire. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 15 were protected in 1927 alone. 11 have been added since 2011.

17% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1946 and 1970 than in any other period (27%).

INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.

Everyone born in Arles Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.

The record in Arles starts with Ancien collège des Jésuites et ancien hôtel de Laval-Castellane, actuellement musée d'art chrétien et Museon Arlaten, which dates from Antiquity. In all there are 98 historic monuments, 41 of them classé, including Église de la Major. Its old center has been a secteur sauvegardé since 1966. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 94% of compared French towns.

Its housing is old: 17% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. In 2018 the Mission Patrimoine picked Ancienne abbaye de Montmajour as a monument in danger to save. Only 3 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments.