Église Saint-Barthélémy · Photo: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 3.018 historic monuments, more per resident than almost any compared French town
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 1995. The Culture ministry lists 18 historic monuments in Confolens: 3 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 15 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from Antiquity. We have photos of 17 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Confolens in 17 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Maison dite du Duc d'EpernonClassé
Vieux PontClassé
Ancienne chapelle du Saint-EspritInscrit
Immeuble (ancienne sous-préfecture)Inscrit
Ancien hôtel Dassier des BrossesInscrit+12See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Confolens has the most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 2,700 to 2,800 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 2. 9 of the 41 have none.
Where Confolens’ 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.
3 classé monuments in Confolens
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 3 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
Classé
Classé15 inscrit monuments in Confolens
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 15, A to Z
Most of Confolens’ monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 10 of 18 monuments (56%). 4 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 1 has no domain on the list.
How old Confolens’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
14 of 18 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Vieux Pont (Antiquity).
Confolens has had a protected historic area since 1995
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR75-06 | ZPPAUP July 3, 1995 | ZPPAUP (heritage zone rules) July 3, 1995 |
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.
Over half of Confolens’ monuments were protected in 1973
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1907: Église Saint-Barthélémy. 10 were protected in 1973 alone. None has been added since 2011.
20% of homes in Confolens were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
20% 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 (29%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
11 people born in Confolens before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Everyone born in Confolens Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Historic monuments in the towns around Confolens
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confolens | 2,730 | 18 | 3 | Yes |
| Terres-de-Haute-Charente | 3,777 | 3 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Junien Haute-Vienne | 11,415 | 8 | 4 | — |
| Rochechouart Haute-Vienne | 3,603 | 5 | 1 | — |
| Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure | 3,111 | 1 | 0 | — |
Confolens in brief
The record in Confolens starts with Vieux Pont, which dates from Antiquity. All told, the list holds 18 historic monuments, 3 of them classé, including Église Saint-Barthélémy. For its size, it has more historic monuments than 99% of compared French towns. No town its size has more historic monuments: it leads the 41 nearest in population.
Its housing is old: 20% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. In 2023 the Mission Patrimoine picked Maison dite du Duc d'Epernon as a monument in danger to save. Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1995.
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 Confolens
How many historic monuments are there in Confolens?
The Culture ministry lists 18 historic monuments in Confolens: 3 classé and 15 inscrit.
Which monuments in Confolens are classé?
3, among them Vieux Pont, Église Saint-Barthélémy and Maison dite du Duc d'Epernon.
How old are the monuments of Confolens?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.
Is Confolens a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Confolens has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1995.
When were monuments in Confolens first protected?
The first in 1907, the latest in 2002.
How old are the homes in Confolens?
20% 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 October 30, 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.