Ancien manoir de la Forêt, à Kerfeunten (détruit) · Photo: Adrien Dauzats / Auguste Mayer · Public domain58 historic monuments, the oldest from prehistory
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 1988. The Culture ministry lists 58 historic monuments in Quimper: 11 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 47 inscrit (the second level). That’s 9 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 83% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. We have photos of 54 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Quimper in 54 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Chapelle de la Mère-de-Dieu, à Kerfeunten, dite Ty-Man-DouéClassé
FortificationsClassé
Dolmen dit de Stang YouenClassé
Ancien prieuré de Locmaria, ancienne caserne EmeriauClassé
Ancien évêché, actuellement musée départemental bretonClassé+49See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
How old Quimper’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
7 of 58 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Dolmen dit de Stang Youen (Prehistory).
Where Quimper’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.
11 classé monuments in Quimper
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 6 of the 11 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
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Classé47 inscrit monuments in Quimper
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 47, A to Z
34 more, named only by their kind
34 more are named in the list only by their kind: 30 houses (maisons), 3 buildings (immeubles) and 1 other, most from the 17th century. The 34 with an address are in the list above, by it.
Most of Quimper’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 42 of 58 monuments (72%). 7 are religious buildings, 4 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.
Quimper has had a protected historic area since 1988
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR53-50 | ZPPAUP September 12, 1988 | AVAP (heritage area rules) March 16, 2017 |
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.
28 of Quimper’s monuments were protected in 1956
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1862: Cathédrale Saint-Corentin. 28 were protected in 1956 alone. 1 has been added since 2011.
3.1% of homes in Quimper were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
3.1% 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 (33%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
56 people born in Quimper before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Everyone born in Quimper Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Quimper has the 4th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 56,800 to 73,000 residents, by historic monuments.
Historic monuments in the towns around Quimper
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quimper | 64,385 | 58 | 11 | Yes |
| Ergué-Gabéric | 8,606 | 3 | 2 | — |
| Pluguffan | 4,223 | 4 | 2 | — |
| Plomelin | 4,239 | 3 | 2 | — |
| Saint-Évarzec | 3,574 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Gouesnach | 2,836 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Pleuven | 3,311 | 1 | 1 | — |
Quimper in brief
Quimper’s oldest monument, Dolmen dit de Stang Youen, dates from prehistory. All told, the list holds 58 historic monuments, 11 of them classé, including Ancien manoir de la Forêt, à Kerfeunten (détruit). For its size, it has more historic monuments than 83% of compared French towns. Cathédrale Saint-Corentin sits at the heart of it all, with 5 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m.
Only 3 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1988. Of the whole list, 72% are houses and homes.
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 Quimper
How many historic monuments are there in Quimper?
The Culture ministry lists 58 historic monuments in Quimper: 11 classé and 47 inscrit.
Which monuments in Quimper are classé?
11, among them Dolmen dit de Stang Youen, Camp gaulois de Kercaradec, à Penhars, Ancien prieuré de Locmaria, ancienne caserne Emeriau, Cathédrale Saint-Corentin, Chapelle de la Mère-de-Dieu, à Kerfeunten, dite Ty-Man-Doué and Ancien évêché, actuellement musée départemental breton.
How old are the monuments of Quimper?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from prehistory.
Is Quimper a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Quimper has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1988.
When were monuments in Quimper first protected?
The first in 1862, the latest in 2016.
How old are the homes in Quimper?
3.1% 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.