ClasséTown walls · protected 1964Enceinte de villePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cathédrale Sainte-Marie · Photo: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.025historic monuments
History of Auch · Monuments historiques
25 historic monuments, the oldest from Antiquity
A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) is on the ministry’s list; its rules are still being drawn up. The Culture ministry lists 25 historic monuments in Auch: 5 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. We have photos of 18 of them.
Monuments historiques
25
11 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
5
the highest protection
Inscrit
20
the second level
Oldest part
Antiquity
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
14%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Auch in 18 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Ancien couvent des CordeliersClassé
Tour du Sénéchal ou d'ArmagnacClassé
Maison du 15e siècleClassé
Enceinte de villeClassé
Allées d'EtignyInscrit+13See 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
How old Auch’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.1
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.9
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution13
19th century 1801–19002
20th century and later since 19010
10 of 25 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Enceinte de ville (Antiquity).
Map
Where Auch’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Cathédrale Sainte-Marie
5 of 5classé monuments stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Sainte-Marie, with 19 of the town’s 25 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
25 monuments by protection
5 Classé20 Inscrit
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. 1 monument has no point on the map.
Classé
5 classé monuments in Auch
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 2 of the 5 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséConvent · protected 1923Ancien couvent des CordeliersPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Guiguilacagouille · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséCathedral · protected 1906Cathédrale Sainte-MariePhoto: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1932Maison du 15e sièclePhoto: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséReligious building · protected 1945Tour du Sénéchal ou d'ArmagnacPhoto: Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
20 inscrit monuments in Auch
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
Allées d'EtignyAncien carmelAncien collège de Jésuites, puis lycée, actuellement collège SalinisAncien couvent des JacobinsAncien hôpital Pasteur-Saint-AugustinAncienne intendanceArchevêché (ancien)Château de MarinChâteau de Saint-CricqCouvent des CarmélitesEscalier monumentalFerme fortifiée de PeypocHalle aux grainsHôtel de villeImmeuble, 22 rue d'EspagneImmeuble, 5 rue Arnaud-de-MolesMaison du 15e siècle, dite Maison de la TreilleMaison, 3 rue DessolesPigeonnier de JourdanisRestes du prieuré de Saint-Orens
3 more, named only by their kind
3 more are named in the list only by their kind: 2 buildings (immeubles) and 1 house (maison), most from the 16th century. The 3 with an address are in the list above, by it.
16th c.2
18th c.1
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Auch
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes8
Religious buildings7
Public & civic5
Farm buildings2
Shops & trade1
Houses & homes: 8 of 25 monuments (32%). 7 are religious buildings, 3 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.
Protected area
A protected historic area is on its way in Auch
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR76-43 | ZPPAUP January 3, 2003 | Still being drawn up |
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.
When protected
Auch’s list has grown since 1906
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1906: Cathédrale Sainte-Marie. 4 were protected in 1947 alone. None has been added since 2011.
Age of homes
14% of homes in Auch were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
14%
Before 1919
5.9%
1919–45
27%
1946–70
30%
1971–90
12%
1991–2005
12%
2006 on
AuchMedian compared French town
14% 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 (30%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
26 people born in Auch before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Dominique Serres
Irénée-Yves Dessolle
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Blaise Thérèse Sentetz
Joachim Perez du Gief
Augustin Loubens
Jean-Joseph Dessolles
Jean Louis Brigitte Espagne
François Bagnéris
Urbain Balisson
Armand de Laroque
Jean Pierre Barada
Irénée François David
Théodore Boubée
Raymond Aylies
Casimir Giroud
Joseph Ducos
Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange
Arnaud Denjoy
Georges Pelletier Doisy
170017501800185019001950
DS
Dominique Serres1722–1793 · French painter
LT
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse1750–1812 · French admiral
JJ
Jean-Joseph Dessolles1767–1828 · French politician
JL
Jean Louis Brigitte Espagne1769–1809 · French military commander
RG
Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange1877–1964 · French theologian
AD
Arnaud Denjoy1884–1974 · French mathematician
GP
Georges Pelletier Doisy1892–1953 · French flying ace
IY
Irénée-Yves Dessolle1744–1824 · French archbishop
Everyone born in Auch Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Auch has the 2nd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 21,700 to 23,200 residents, by historic monuments.
Auch25
#2 of 41for monuments per resident (11 per 10,000). Most per resident: Abbeville, Auch and Maisons-Laffitte.
The median town of these has 2. 10 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Auch
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auch | 22,428 | 25 | 5 | Yes |
| Pavie | 2,566 | 3 | 1 | — |
| Mirande | 3,457 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Fleurance | 6,247 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Gimont | 3,146 | 6 | 0 | — |
| Vic-Fezensac | 3,577 | 2 | 0 | — |
In brief
Auch in brief
Enceinte de ville, from Antiquity, is the oldest monument in Auch. In all there are 25 historic monuments, 5 of them classé. Cathédrale Sainte-Marie is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its housing is old: 14% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
For its size, it has more historic monuments than 87% of compared French towns. Cathédrale Sainte-Marie sits at the heart of it all, with 5 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. Only one of the 41 towns nearest its size has more historic monuments.
How to read these numbers
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 Auch
How many historic monuments are there in Auch?
The Culture ministry lists 25 historic monuments in Auch: 5 classé and 20 inscrit.
Which monuments in Auch are classé?
5, among them Enceinte de ville, Ancien couvent des Cordeliers, Cathédrale Sainte-Marie, Maison du 15e siècle and Tour du Sénéchal ou d'Armagnac.
How old are the monuments of Auch?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.
Is Auch a protected historic area?
One is on the way: a site patrimonial remarquable for Auch is on the ministry’s list, but its rules are still being drawn up.
When were monuments in Auch first protected?
The first in 1906, the latest in 2004.
How old are the homes in Auch?
14% 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.