Hôtel de ville · Photo: JLPC · CC BY-SA 3.038 historic monuments and a protected historic area since 2010
The Culture ministry lists 38 historic monuments in Angoulême: 4 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 34 inscrit (the second level). That’s 9.1 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 83% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 4th century. We have photos of 34 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Angoulême in 34 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Cathédrale Saint-PierreClassé
Ancien évêchéInscrit
Église dite chapelle Notre-Dame d'Obézine (ou de Bézines)Inscrit
ImmeubleInscrit
Ancienne abbaye Saint-CybardInscrit+29See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Angoulême has 2 protected historic areas
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR75-01 | ZPPAUP March 29, 2010 | ZPPAUP (heritage zone rules) March 29, 2010 |
| SPR75-02 | Secteur sauvegardé February 27, 2015 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) December 3, 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. 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.
Where Angoulême’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
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.
4 classé monuments in Angoulême
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
Classé34 inscrit monuments in Angoulême
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 30, A to Z
14 more, named only by their kind
14 more are named in the list only by their kind: 7 buildings (immeubles), 1 house (maison) and 6 others, most from the 18th and 19th centuries. The 10 with an address are in the list above, by it.
Houses and homes are the largest group in Angoulême
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 16 of 38 monuments (42%). 6 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 5 have no domain on the list.
How old Angoulême’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
9 of 37 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Ancienne lanterne des morts (12th c.). 1 monument has no date on the list.
9 of Angoulême’s monuments were protected in 1925
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1840: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 9 were protected in 1925 alone. 4 have been added since 2011.
12% of homes in Angoulême were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
12% 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 (28%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
49 people born in Angoulême before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Everyone born in Angoulême Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Angoulême has the 7th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 39,100 to 45,100 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 6. 3 of the 41 have none.
Historic monuments in the towns around Angoulême
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angoulême | 41,908 | 38 | 4 | Yes |
| Soyaux | 10,087 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Gond-Pontouvre | 5,862 | 0 | 0 | — |
| L'Isle-d'Espagnac | 5,682 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente | 7,539 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Michel | 3,196 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Fléac | 3,861 | 1 | 1 | — |
Angoulême in brief
More of Angoulême’s homes are old than in most places: 12% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. In all there are 38 historic monuments, 4 of them classé, including Hôtel de ville. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 83% of compared French towns. Its classé monuments cluster together: 3 of them stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Pierre.
Only 6 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Parts of it lie in 2 sites patrimoniaux remarquables, the first protected in 2010. Église dite chapelle Notre-Dame d'Obézine (ou de Bézines) carries the Architecture contemporaine remarquable label.
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 Angoulême
How many historic monuments are there in Angoulême?
The Culture ministry lists 38 historic monuments in Angoulême: 4 classé and 34 inscrit.
Which monuments in Angoulême are classé?
4, among them Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, Hôtel de ville, Manufacture de papiers Hébert and Vieux puits.
How old are the monuments of Angoulême?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 4th century.
Is Angoulême a protected historic area?
Yes: Angoulême has 2 sites patrimoniaux remarquables, the first since 2010.
When were monuments in Angoulême first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2015.
How old are the homes in Angoulême?
12% 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.