Église Saint-Aignan · Photo: Ludvig14 · CC BY-SA 4.0A secteur sauvegardé since 1964, and 41 historic monuments
The Culture ministry lists 41 historic monuments in Chartres: 21 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 20 inscrit (the second level). That’s 11 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 87% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 11th century. We have photos of 36 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Chartres in 36 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Église Saint-PierreClassé
Maison du SaumonClassé
Hôpital Saint-BriceClassé
Ancienne église Saint-AndréClassé
"Maison dite aussi ancienne salle de justice et hôtel de ville ou "du Perron" ou "le Parloir aux Bourgeois" ou "des Trois Rois""Classé+31See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Chartres has had a protected historic area since 1964
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR24-06 | Secteur sauvegardé June 22, 1964 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) July 31, 2007 |
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 Chartres’ 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.
21 classé monuments in Chartres
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 11 of the 21 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
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Classé20 inscrit monuments in Chartres
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 20, A to Z
5 more, named only by their kind
5 more are named in the list only by their kind: 5 houses (maisons), most from the 16th century. The 5 with an address are in the list above, by it.
Houses and homes are the largest group in Chartres
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 17 of 41 monuments (41%). 7 are religious buildings, 6 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 3 have no domain on the list.
How old Chartres’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
17 of 36 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Cathédrale Notre-Dame (11th–16th c.). 5 monuments have no date on the list.
Chartres’ list has grown since 1840
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1840: Ancienne église Saint-André, Église Saint-Aignan and Église Saint-Pierre. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 4 were protected in 2017 alone. 4 have been added since 2011.
76 people born in Chartres before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Everyone born in Chartres Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Chartres has the 4th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 36,200 to 40,800 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 4. 5 of the 41 have none.
Historic monuments in the towns around Chartres
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chartres | 38,324 | 41 | 21 | Yes |
| Le Coudray | 4,038 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Mainvilliers | 10,629 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Champhol | 3,643 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Luisant | 6,945 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Lucé | 15,921 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Lèves | 5,685 | 2 | 1 | — |
Chartres in brief
Chartres’s old center has been a secteur sauvegardé, the strictest protection France gives a historic town, since 1964. All told, the list holds 41 historic monuments, 21 of them classé, including Église Saint-Aignan. Cathédrale Notre-Dame is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The oldest, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, dates from the 11th century.
For its size, it has more historic monuments than 87% of compared French towns. Cathédrale Notre-Dame sits at the heart of it all, with 14 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. In 2023 the Mission Patrimoine picked Ateliers de fabrication de vitraux, dits Ateliers Lorin as a monument in danger to save. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: 8.8% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.
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 Chartres
How many historic monuments are there in Chartres?
The Culture ministry lists 41 historic monuments in Chartres: 21 classé and 20 inscrit.
Which monuments in Chartres are classé?
21, among them Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Père-en-Vallée, actuellement annexe du lycée Marceau, Ancienne église Saint-André, Ancienne église Sainte-Foy, Hôpital Saint-Brice and Maison dite Maison de la Voûte, ancien grenier à sel.
How old are the monuments of Chartres?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 11th century.
Is Chartres a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Chartres has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1964.
When were monuments in Chartres first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2017.
How old are the homes in Chartres?
8.8% 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 8, 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.