ClasséChâteau · protected 1925Ancien château de MercoeurPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Maison romane · Photo: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 4.010historic monuments
History of Blesle · Monuments historiques
10 historic monuments, 4 classé
We have photos of 8 of Blesle’s monuments. The oldest monuments in Blesle date from the 10th century.
Monuments historiques
10
Classé
4
the highest protection
Inscrit
6
the second level
Oldest part
10th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
34%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Blesle in 8 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Église Saint-PierreClassé
Ancien château de MercoeurClassé
Ancienne église Saint-MartinClassé
Église de BousselarguesInscrit
Maison Blanc du BosInscrit+3See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Map
Where Blesle’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Ancien château de Mercoeur
4 of 4classé monuments stand within 400 m of Ancien château de Mercoeur, with 8 of the town’s 10 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
10 monuments by protection
4 Classé6 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
4 classé monuments in Blesle
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 3 of the 4 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséChurch · protected 1970Ancienne église Saint-MartinPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
ClasséHouse · protected 1924Maison romanePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
6 inscrit monuments in Blesle
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
Inscrit
InscritFortified house · protected 1976Tour du MassadouPhoto: Juliofsanguino · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
InscritCourthouse · protected 2003Maison du bailliage
Château · protected 1993Château du Bos
What’s protected
Most of Blesle’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes6
Religious buildings3
Military & fortified1
Houses & homes: 6 of 10 monuments (60%). 3 are religious buildings, 2 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
How old
How old Blesle’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.6
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution4
19th century 1801–19000
20th century and later since 19010
6 of 10 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Ancien château de Mercoeur (Middle Ages).
When protected
2 of Blesle’s monuments were protected in 1993
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1907: Église Saint-Pierre. 2 were protected in 1993 alone. None has been added since 2011.
Age of homes
34% of homes in Blesle were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
34%
Before 1919
11%
1919–45
7.6%
1946–70
25%
1971–90
13%
1991–2005
9.9%
2006 on
BlesleMedian compared French town
34% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished before 1919 than in any other period (34%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
3 people born in Blesle before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Gaspard de Chavagnac
Jean-Baptiste Barrès
Léo de Saint-Poncy
16001650170017501800185019001950
GC
Gaspard de Chavagnac1624–1695 · 17th century French general, diplomat and memoirist
JB
Jean-Baptiste Barrès1784–1848 · French officer
LS
Léo de Saint-Poncy1825–1921 · French journalist
Everyone born in Blesle Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Blesle
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blesle | 611 | 10 | 4 | — |
| Sainte-Florine | 3,283 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Brioude | 6,527 | 9 | 3 | Yes |
| Brassac-les-Mines Puy-de-Dôme | 3,412 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Issoire Puy-de-Dôme | 15,115 | 12 | 2 | — |
In brief
Blesle in brief
Blesle’s oldest monument, Ancien château de Mercoeur, dates from the 10th century. All told, the list holds 10 historic monuments, 4 of them classé, including Maison romane. Of its homes, 34% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Its classé monuments cluster together: 4 of them stand within 400 m of Ancien château de Mercoeur.
Most entries on the list, 60%, are houses and homes. Most of its dated monuments come from the Middle Ages: 6 of 10. Gaspard de Chavagnac (1624), Jean-Baptiste Barrès (1784) and Léo de Saint-Poncy (1825) were all born here before 1900.
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 Blesle
How many historic monuments are there in Blesle?
The Culture ministry lists 10 historic monuments in Blesle: 4 classé and 6 inscrit.
Which monuments in Blesle are classé?
4, among them Ancien château de Mercoeur, Ancienne église Saint-Martin, Église Saint-Pierre and Maison romane.
How old are the monuments of Blesle?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 10th century.
When were monuments in Blesle first protected?
The first in 1907, the latest in 2003.
How old are the homes in Blesle?
34% 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.