Hôpital rural Saint-Louis · Photo: Remi Mathis · CC BY-SA 3.014 historic monuments, more per resident than 98% of compared French towns
The Culture ministry lists 14 historic monuments in Ornans: 2 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 12 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 16th century. We have photos of 13 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Ornans in 13 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Église Saint-LaurentClassé
Hôtel Sanderet de Valonne (ancien)Inscrit
Chapelle Saint-GeorgesInscrit
Bailliage (ancien)Inscrit
Atelier de Gustave CourbetInscrit+8See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Ornans has the 2nd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 4,400 to 4,500 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 1. 15 of the 41 have none.
Where Ornans’ 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.
2 classé monuments in Ornans
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 2 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
Classé12 inscrit monuments in Ornans
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
Inscrit
Inscrit
Inscrit
Inscrit
Inscrit
Inscrit
Inscrit
Inscrit
Inscrit
Inscrit
InscritHouses and homes are the largest group in Ornans
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 6 of 14 monuments (43%). 3 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 2 have no domain on the list.
How old Ornans’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
The oldest dated: Chapelle Saint-Georges (16th c.).
Ornans’ list has grown since 1926
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1926: Hôtel Sanderet de Valonne (ancien). 2 were protected in 1979 alone. 2 have been added since 2011.
18% of homes in Ornans were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
18% 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 (25%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
6 people born in Ornans before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Everyone born in Ornans Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Historic monuments in the towns around Ornans
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ornans | 4,419 | 14 | 2 | — |
| Saône | 3,195 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Valdahon | 5,705 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Besançon | 118,489 | 194 | 40 | Yes |
| Thise | 2,994 | 1 | 1 | — |
| École-Valentin | 2,579 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Miserey-Salines | 2,661 | 2 | 0 | — |
Ornans in brief
Few towns are as rich in historic monuments as Ornans: per resident it has more than 98% of compared French towns. All told, the list holds 14 historic monuments, 2 of them classé, including Hôpital rural Saint-Louis. Its housing is old: 18% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Only one of the 41 towns nearest its size has more historic monuments.
Of the 14 with a date, 11 come from the 16th to 18th centuries. The oldest is Chapelle Saint-Georges, from the 16th century. Otton IV de Bourgogne (1248), Gustave Courbet (1819) and Claude Richard (1589) are among the 6 people born here before 1900.
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 Ornans
How many historic monuments are there in Ornans?
The Culture ministry lists 14 historic monuments in Ornans: 2 classé and 12 inscrit.
Which monuments in Ornans are classé?
2, among them Église Saint-Laurent and Hôpital rural Saint-Louis.
How old are the monuments of Ornans?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 16th century.
When were monuments in Ornans first protected?
The first in 1926, the latest in 2022.
How old are the homes in Ornans?
18% 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.