ClasséBuilding · protected 1992Immeuble de l'ancienne douanePhoto: Aandrem · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Maison de Dreyfus, sur l'île du Diable · Photo: Sophie Fuggle, Claire Reddleman, Ayshka Sene · CC BY 4.043historic monuments
History of Cayenne · Monuments historiques
43 historic monuments and a protected historic area since 2019
The Culture ministry lists 43 historic monuments in Cayenne: 10 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 33 inscrit (the second level). That’s 6.9 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 78% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 18th century. We have photos of 25 of them.
Monuments historiques
43
6.9 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
10
the highest protection
Inscrit
33
the second level
Oldest part
18th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
0.6%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Cayenne in 25 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Place de l'Esplanade, dite place des PalmistesClassé
Place Léopold-Héder, dite aussi place de GrenobleClassé
Chapelle de l'île RoyaleClassé
Ancien Hôpital Jean MartialClassé
Ancien Hôpital de l'île RoyaleClassé+20See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Protected area
Cayenne has had a protected historic area since 2019
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR03-01 | AVAP September 27, 2019 | AVAP (heritage area rules) September 27, 2019 |
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.
Map
Where Cayenne’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur
5 of 10classé monuments stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, with 18 of the town’s 43 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
43 monuments by protection
10 Classé33 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.
Classé
10 classé monuments in Cayenne
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 2 of the 10 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséHospital · protected 2013Ancien Hôpital Jean MartialPhoto: HippyHippo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
ClasséBuilding · protected 1994Immeuble dit Bar des Palmistes ou Maison ThémirePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab Cayenne · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséMonument · protected 1987Maison de Dreyfus, sur l'île du DiablePhoto: Sophie Fuggle, Claire Reddleman, Ayshka Sene · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséMonument · protected 1999Place de l'Esplanade, dite place des PalmistesPhoto: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséMonument · protected 1999Place Léopold-Héder, dite aussi place de GrenoblePhoto: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséMonument · protected 1999Statue de Victor SchoelcherPhoto: Cayambe · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséMonument · protected 1980Ancien Hôpital de l'île RoyalePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Tylda · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
33 inscrit monuments in Cayenne
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 33, A to Z
Ancien lavoirAncien poste de police, sur l'île RoyaleAncienne boulangerie AnatoleAncienne caserne du Génie, dite Hôtel de l'InspectionCollège Eugène NonnonConseil généralCouvent des Jésuites (ancien), ou ancienne Préfecture, ou Hôtel des PalmistesEcole Joséphine HorthExternat Saint-JosephIles du Salut - îles Royale, Saint-Joseph et du DiableImmeuble Delabergerie, siège de la Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles de la GuyaneImmeuble FranconieImmeuble PrévotImmeuble VitaloImmeuble, 11 avenue de la LibertéImmeuble, 14 avenue du Général-de-GaulleImmeuble, 31 rue du Lieutenant-GoinetImmeuble, ancien poste de policeInstitut d'Enseignement SupérieurMagasin du Port (ancienne boulangerie) , sur l'île RoyaleMaison BradinMaison Ceïde, actuelle Galerie des Trois-FontainesMaison, 1 rue MentelleMaison, 42 rue SchoelcherMaison, 6 rue du FortPavillon Monvoisin, Cité RebardPoudrière (ancienne)Quartier des condamnés à mort, sur l'île RoyaleQuartier des Détenus, sur l'île du DiableQuartier des Directeurs, sur l'île RoyaleQuartiers des surveillants, sur l'île RoyaleRésidence préfectorale dite " chalet Bourda "Roches gravées de la Pointe-Marie-Galante, sur l'île Saint-Joseph
6 more, named only by their kind
6 more are named in the list only by their kind: 3 buildings (immeubles) and 3 houses (maisons), most from the 19th century. The 6 with an address are in the list above, by it.
19th c.3
20th c.3
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Cayenne
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes15
Religious buildings2
Public & civic2
Tombs & cemeteries1
Houses & homes: 15 of 43 monuments (35%). 2 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 23 have no domain on the list.
How old
How old Cayenne’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.0
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.0
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution2
19th century 1801–190025
20th century and later since 19015
The oldest dated: Couvent des Jésuites (ancien), ou ancienne Préfecture, ou Hôtel des Palmistes (18th c.). 11 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
Cayenne’s list has grown since 1978
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1995 · 8
1960198020002020
First protected, in 1978: Couvent des Jésuites (ancien), ou ancienne Préfecture, ou Hôtel des Palmistes. 8 were protected in 1995 alone. 7 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
0.6% of homes in Cayenne were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
0.6%
Before 1919
1.7%
1919–45
13%
1946–70
28%
1971–90
29%
1991–2005
28%
2006 on
CayenneMedian compared French town
0.6% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1991 and 2005 than in any other period (29%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
17 people born in Cayenne before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Nicolas de Nompère de Champagny
Louis Marck
Ismaÿl Urbain
Alfred Parépou
Pierre Louis Alexandre
Gustave Franconie
Henry Julien Stanislas Ternisien
Henri Louis Hippolyte Ursleur
Samuel Lubin
Georges Jérome
Albert Eutrope
Constantin Verderosa
Djemil Anik
Auguste Boudinot
Gaston Monnerville
Mary Serta
René Jadfard
175017751800182518501875190019251950
IU
Ismaÿl Urbain1812–1884 · French journalist
AE
Albert Eutrope1888–1915 · French rugby union footballer
GM
Gaston Monnerville1897–1991 · French Guiana politician
RJ
René Jadfard1899–1947 · Member of French National Assembly
NN
Nicolas de Nompère de Champagny1789–1863 · French soldier and politician
LM
Louis Marck1811–1891 · French politician
AP
Alfred Parépou1841–1887 · French writer
PL
Pierre Louis Alexandre1843–1905 · Swedish art model
Everyone born in Cayenne Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Cayenne has the 7th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 55,800 to 68,100 residents, by historic monuments.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Cayenne
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cayenne | 62,675 | 43 | 10 | Yes |
| Remire-Montjoly | 27,723 | 15 | 4 | — |
| Matoury | 36,512 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Macouria | 19,899 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Montsinéry-Tonnegrande | 3,626 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Roura | 3,449 | 2 | 0 | — |
In brief
Cayenne in brief
Per resident, Cayenne has more historic monuments than 78% of compared French towns. All told, the list holds 43 historic monuments, 10 of them classé, including Maison de Dreyfus, sur l'île du Diable. Its classé monuments cluster together: 5 of them stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur. Immeuble Franconie is one of the Maisons des Illustres, the homes of people who left their mark on France.
Only 6 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2019. Most of its dated monuments come from the 19th century: 25 of 32.
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 Cayenne
How many historic monuments are there in Cayenne?
The Culture ministry lists 43 historic monuments in Cayenne: 10 classé and 33 inscrit.
Which monuments in Cayenne are classé?
10, among them Immeuble de l'ancienne douane, Ancien Hôpital Jean Martial, Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, Chapelle de l'île Royale, Immeuble dit Bar des Palmistes ou Maison Thémire and Maison de Dreyfus, sur l'île du Diable.
How old are the monuments of Cayenne?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 18th century.
Is Cayenne a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Cayenne has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2019.
When were monuments in Cayenne first protected?
The first in 1978, the latest in 2024.
How old are the homes in Cayenne?
0.6% 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 October 30, 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.