Hôtel d'Enval · Photo: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 3.020 historic monuments and a protected historic area since 2014
The Culture ministry lists 20 historic monuments in Brive-la-Gaillarde: 4 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 16 inscrit (the second level). That’s 4.2 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 66% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 10th century. We have photos of 17 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Brive-la-Gaillarde in 17 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
hôtel Labenche devenu séminaire (aujourd'hui, musée d'art et d'histoire)Classé
Maison à tourelle ou tour des EchevinsClassé
Église Saint-MartinClassé
Ancien Collège des Doctrinaires ou ancien collège de jeunes fillesClassé
Ancien château d'eauInscrit+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.
Brive-la-Gaillarde has had a protected historic area since 2014
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR75-40 | AVAP February 28, 2014 | AVAP (heritage area rules) February 28, 2014 |
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.
Where Brive-la-Gaillarde’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 Brive-la-Gaillarde
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 4 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
Classé
Classé
Classé16 inscrit monuments in Brive-la-Gaillarde
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 16, A to Z
5 more, named only by their kind
5 more are named in the list only by their kind: 4 houses (maisons) and 1 building (immeuble), most from the 16th century. The 5 with an address are in the list above, by it.
Most of Brive-la-Gaillarde’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 14 of 20 monuments (70%). 2 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
How old Brive-la-Gaillarde’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
5 of 18 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Église Saint-Martin (11th & 18th c.). 2 monuments have no date on the list.
Brive-la-Gaillarde’s list has grown since 1862
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1862: Église Saint-Martin. 2 were protected in 1926 alone. None has been added since 2011.
4.4% of homes in Brive-la-Gaillarde were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
4.4% 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 (35%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
27 people born in Brive-la-Gaillarde before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Everyone born in Brive-la-Gaillarde Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Historic monuments in the towns around Brive-la-Gaillarde
Brive-la-Gaillarde in brief
The record in Brive-la-Gaillarde starts with Église Saint-Martin, which dates from the 10th century. In all there are 20 historic monuments, 4 of them classé, including hôtel Labenche devenu séminaire (aujourd'hui, musée d'art et d'histoire). Its classé monuments cluster together: 4 of them stand within 400 m of Ancien Collège des Doctrinaires ou ancien collège de jeunes filles. Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2014.
Most entries on the list, 70%, are houses and homes. Most of its dated monuments come from the 16th to 18th centuries: 10 of 18. Of the 27 people born here before 1900, the best known include Guillaume Dubois (1656), Nicolas Ernault des Bruslys (1757) and Pierre-André Latreille (1762). Beyond that, it has 20 historic monuments, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 7); and per resident it sits near the middle of compared French towns.
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 Brive-la-Gaillarde
How many historic monuments are there in Brive-la-Gaillarde?
The Culture ministry lists 20 historic monuments in Brive-la-Gaillarde: 4 classé and 16 inscrit.
Which monuments in Brive-la-Gaillarde are classé?
4, among them Église Saint-Martin, hôtel Labenche devenu séminaire (aujourd'hui, musée d'art et d'histoire), Ancien Collège des Doctrinaires ou ancien collège de jeunes filles and Maison à tourelle ou tour des Echevins.
How old are the monuments of Brive-la-Gaillarde?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 10th century.
Is Brive-la-Gaillarde a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Brive-la-Gaillarde has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2014.
When were monuments in Brive-la-Gaillarde first protected?
The first in 1862, the latest in 2005.
How old are the homes in Brive-la-Gaillarde?
4.4% 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 9, 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.