ClasséAbbey · protected 1983Ancienne abbaye Saint-AphrodisePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Vpe · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Vieux pont sur l'Orb · Photo: Christian Ferrer · CC BY-SA 4.036historic monuments
History of Béziers · Monuments historiques
A secteur sauvegardé since 1992, and 36 historic monuments
The Culture ministry lists 36 historic monuments in Béziers: 12 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 24 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from Antiquity. That’s 4.4 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 67% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. We have photos of 23 of them.
Monuments historiques
36
4.4 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
12
the highest protection
Inscrit
24
the second level
Oldest part
Antiquity
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
7%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Béziers in 23 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Ancien palais épiscopal, aujourd'hui palais de justice de BéziersClassé
Église Saint-JacquesClassé
Jardin du Plateau des PoètesClassé
Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Nazaire et cloître Saint-NazaireClassé
Canal du Midi : écluses de FonsérannesClassé+18See 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
Béziers has had a protected historic area since 1992
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR76-49 | Secteur sauvegardé September 22, 1992 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) January 15, 2026 |
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.
Map
Where Béziers’ monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Nazaire et cloître Saint-Nazaire
4 of 12classé monuments stand within 400 m of Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Nazaire et cloître Saint-Nazaire, with 13 of the town’s 36 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
36 monuments by protection
12 Classé24 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
12 classé monuments in Béziers
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 5 of the 12 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
ClasséChurch · protected 1912Église Saint-JacquesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: EmDee · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséBridge · protected 1963Vieux pont sur l'OrbPhoto: Christian Ferrer · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséCathedral · protected 1840Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Nazaire et cloître Saint-NazairePhoto: Vpe · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséChapel · protected 1973Chapelle des Pénitents BleusPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Tournasol7 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséBishop’s palace · protected 2014Ancien palais épiscopal, aujourd'hui palais de justice de BéziersPhoto: DLavialle · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséCanal · protected 1996Canal du Midi : écluses de FonsérannesPhoto: Ad Meskens · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséPublic building · protected 1995Jardin du Plateau des PoètesPhoto: Fagairolles 34 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Building · protected 2004Ancien tribunal épiscopal, anciennement appelé "Maison des Notaires"
House · protected 1990Villa GuyPart of the building is protected
School · protected 2001Ancien centre d'apprentissage pour garçons, actuel lycée professionnel Jean MermozPart of the building is protected
Inscrit
24 inscrit monuments in Béziers
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 24, A to Z
Amphithéâtre romainAncien cloître des CarmesArènes à taureauxCanal du Midi : pont-aqueducChâteau de LibouriacChâteau de Poussan-le-HautChâteau Saint-BauzilleHalles centralesHôtel BühlerHôtel de Boyer de Sorgues, dit aussi hôtel de Cassagneshôtel de NattesHôtel de villeImmeuble dit « Hôtel de Montmorency »Immeuble dit « maison natale » de Jean MoulinMaison, 16 rue des Docteurs-BourguetMaison, 2 rue GaveauMaison, 23 rue des BalancesMaison, 4 rue de l'ArgenterieMaison, 7 rue du Docteur-VergneMoulin CordierThéâtre des VariétésThéâtre, place de la VictoireTour de Saint-Jean-d'AureilhanVestiges du théâtre antique, îlot des chaudronniers
6 more, named only by their kind
6 more are named in the list only by their kind: 4 houses (maisons), 1 building (immeuble) and 1 other, most from the 15th and 16th centuries. The 6 with an address are in the list above, by it.
15th c.2
16th c.1
17th c.1
19th c.1
undated1
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Béziers
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes16
Religious buildings6
Public & civic6
Bridges & engineering3
Archaeological sites2
Industrial1
Houses & homes: 16 of 36 monuments (44%). 6 are religious buildings, 5 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.
How old
How old Béziers’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.3
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.12
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution8
19th century 1801–19008
20th century and later since 19013
15 of 34 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Amphithéâtre romain (Antiquity). 2 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
Béziers’ list has grown since 1840
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1840: Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Nazaire et cloître Saint-Nazaire. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 3 were protected in 1963 alone. 7 have been added since 2011.
Born before 1900
75 people born in Béziers before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Abraham Bedersi
Yedaʿyah ha-Penini
Pierre Affre
Paul Pellisson
Jean Barbeyrac
Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan
Joseph-Henri de Jessé-Levas
Jean Bassal
Charles-Henri Tabareau
Jean Gailhac
Rosier
Adrien Viguier
Jean-Antoine Injalbert
Auguste Donny
Valentin Duc
Jean Magrou
Gaston Roudès
Henri Fescourt
Mario Cazes
Joseph Quesnot
120013501500165018001950
AB
Abraham Bedersi1240–1296 · French poet
YP
Yedaʿyah ha-Penini1270–1340 · philosopher
PA
Pierre Affre1590–1669 · French sculptor
PP
Paul Pellisson1624–1693 · French writer
JB
Jean Barbeyrac1674–1744 · French jurist
JJ
Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan1678–1771 · French geophysicist, astronomer and most notably, chronobiologist
JH
Joseph-Henri de Jessé-Levas1746–1794 · Nobleman, government official
JB
Jean Bassal1752–1802 · French politician
Everyone born in Béziers Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Béziers has the 8th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 67,300 to 98,300 residents, by historic monuments.
Béziers36
#8 of 41for monuments per resident (4.4 per 10,000). Most per resident: La Rochelle, Avignon and Versailles.
The median town of these has 6. 1 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Béziers
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Béziers | 81,545 | 36 | 12 | Yes |
| Boujan-sur-Libron | 3,619 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Villeneuve-lès-Béziers | 4,500 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Lignan-sur-Orb | 3,227 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Maraussan | 4,789 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Sauvian | 5,608 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Cers | 2,503 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Béziers in brief
Béziers’s oldest monument, Amphithéâtre romain, dates from Antiquity. In all there are 36 historic monuments, 12 of them classé, including Vieux pont sur l'Orb. Its old center has been a secteur sauvegardé since 1992. Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Nazaire et cloître Saint-Nazaire sits at the heart of it all, with 4 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m.
Only 7 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. 2 of its monuments, Jardin du Plateau des Poètes among them, carry the Architecture contemporaine remarquable label. Of the 75 people born here before 1900, the best known include Abraham Bedersi (1240), Yedaʿyah ha-Penini (1270) and Pierre Affre (1590). Beyond that, per resident it sits near the middle of compared French towns; and 7% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.
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 Béziers
How many historic monuments are there in Béziers?
The Culture ministry lists 36 historic monuments in Béziers: 12 classé and 24 inscrit.
Which monuments in Béziers are classé?
12, among them Ancienne abbaye Saint-Aphrodise, Église de la Madeleine, Église Saint-Jacques, Vieux pont sur l'Orb, Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Nazaire et cloître Saint-Nazaire and Ancien tribunal épiscopal, anciennement appelé "Maison des Notaires".
How old are the monuments of Béziers?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.
Is Béziers a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Béziers has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1992.
When were monuments in Béziers first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2017.
How old are the homes in Béziers?
7% 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.