ClasséChurch · protected 1983Ancienne église Saint-Jean de BébianPhoto: Fagairolles 34 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Hôtel de Malibran · Photo: Thierry de Villepin · CC BY-SA 3.040historic monuments
History of Pézenas · Monuments historiques
40 historic monuments, more per resident than almost any compared French town
A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) is on the ministry’s list; its rules are still being drawn up. The Culture ministry lists 40 historic monuments in Pézenas: 11 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 29 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 10th century. We have photos of 36 of them.
Monuments historiques
40
51 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
11
the highest protection
Inscrit
29
the second level
Oldest part
10th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
30%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Pézenas in 36 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Hôtel de Landes de Saint-PalaisClassé
Ancienne église Saint-Jean de BébianClassé
Hôtel de LacosteClassé
Ancienne sacristie des Pénitents BlancsClassé
Ancien palais consulaireClassé+31See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Towns its size
Pézenas has the most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 7,700 to 7,900 residents, by historic monuments.
Pézenas40
#1 of 41for monuments per resident (51 per 10,000). Most per resident: Pézenas, Thann and Corte.
The median town of these has 1. 12 of the 41 have none.
Map
Where Pézenas’ monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Ancien hôtel de Grasset, actuellement cercle littéraire
10 of 11classé monuments stand within 400 m of Ancien hôtel de Grasset, actuellement cercle littéraire, with 35 of the town’s 40 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
40 monuments by protection
11 Classé29 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
11 classé monuments in Pézenas
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 9 of the 11 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséReligious building · protected 1944Ancienne sacristie des Pénitents BlancsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: FHd · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown house · protected 1965Hôtel de LacostePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown house · protected 1944Hôtel de NizasPart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown house · protected 1944Ancien hôtel de Grasset, actuellement cercle littérairePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Vanbasten 23 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown hall · protected 1931Ancien palais consulairePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown house · protected 1944Hôtel d'AlfoncePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown house · protected 1944Hôtel de Landes de Saint-PalaisPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Meria Geoian · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown house · protected 1944Hôtel de MalibranPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Thierry de Villepin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTheater · protected 1995Théâtre, ancienne église des Pénitents NoirsPhoto: Fagairolles 34 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséBuilding · protected 1936Immeuble, rue Alfred-SabatierPart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
29 inscrit monuments in Pézenas
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 28, A to Z
Ancien hôtel de PeyratAncien hôtel MazelAncienne prison consulaireChâteau de LoubatièresCollégiale Saint-JeanDomaine de la Grange des PrésDomaine du château de LarzacFontaine de VedelHôtel de BezonsHôtel de GraveHôtel de l'EpineHôtel de Loubatières (ou de Latude)Hôtel de WicqueHôtel du Connétable de Montmorency (ou Hôtel de Peyrat)Hôtel Flottes de SébazanHôtel Saint-GermainHôtel-DieuImmeuble, 10 rue des OrfèvresImmeuble, 12 rue Alfred-SabatierImmeuble, 3 rue des Commandants-BessasImmeuble, rue Triperie-VieilleMaison des CommandeursMaison des PauvresMaison, 17 rue de la FoireMaison, 22 rue de la FoireMonument aux morts de la guerre de 1914-1918Moulin de ConasPorte Faugères
7 more, named only by their kind
7 more are named in the list only by their kind: 4 buildings (immeubles), 2 houses (maisons) and 1 other, most from the 15th and 16th centuries. The 6 with an address are in the list above, by it.
15th c.3
16th c.2
17th c.1
18th c.1
What’s protected
Most of Pézenas’ monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes27
Public & civic6
Religious buildings4
Military & fortified1
Tombs & cemeteries1
Industrial1
Houses & homes: 27 of 40 monuments (68%). 4 are religious buildings, 3 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
How old
How old Pézenas’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.0
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.12
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution26
19th century 1801–19000
20th century and later since 19010
12 of 38 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Ancien hôtel de Peyrat (17th c.). 2 monuments have no date on the list.
Protected area
A protected historic area is on its way in Pézenas
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR76-58 | Secteur sauvegardé June 21, 1965 | 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
9 of Pézenas’ monuments were protected in 1933
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1933 · 91944 · 8
192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1931: Ancien palais consulaire, Fontaine de Vedel and Hôtel-Dieu. 9 were protected in 1933 alone. 3 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
30% of homes in Pézenas were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
30%
Before 1919
13%
1919–45
12%
1946–70
21%
1971–90
13%
1991–2005
12%
2006 on
PézenasMedian compared French town
30% 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 (30%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
14 people born in Pézenas before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Marc Antoine Thomas Mérigeaux
Jean-François Curée
Pierre Grenier
Jean-Pascal Rouyer
Henri Reboul
Massimiliano Spinola
Aristide Reboul-Coste
Jacques Louis Durand
Jean-Marie Henri de Grasset
Charles Ponsonailhe
Georges Beaume
Henri d’Alméras
Alfred Montagne
Louis de Faucher
175017751800182518501875190019251950
MS
Massimiliano Spinola1780–1857 · Italian hymenopterist
AM
Alfred Montagne1881–1963 · French soldier
MA
Marc Antoine Thomas Mérigeaux1755–1834 · French politician
JF
Jean-François Curée1756–1835 · French politician
PG
Pierre Grenier1756–1819 · French politician
JP
Jean-Pascal Rouyer1761–1819 · French politician
HR
Henri Reboul1763–1839 · French politician
AR
Aristide Reboul-Coste1792–1870 · French politician
Everyone born in Pézenas Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Pézenas
In brief
Pézenas in brief
Few towns are as rich in historic monuments as Pézenas: per resident it has more than 99% of compared French towns. In all there are 40 historic monuments, 11 of them classé, including Hôtel de Malibran. No town its size has more historic monuments: it leads the 41 nearest in population. Its housing is old: 30% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Its classé monuments cluster together: 10 of them stand within 400 m of Ancien hôtel de Grasset, actuellement cercle littéraire. Most entries on the list, 68%, are houses and homes. Of the 38 with a date, 26 come from the 16th to 18th centuries.
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 Pézenas
How many historic monuments are there in Pézenas?
The Culture ministry lists 40 historic monuments in Pézenas: 11 classé and 29 inscrit.
Which monuments in Pézenas are classé?
11, among them Ancienne église Saint-Jean de Bébian, Ancienne sacristie des Pénitents Blancs, Hôtel de Lacoste, Hôtel de Nizas, Ancien hôtel de Grasset, actuellement cercle littéraire and Ancien palais consulaire.
How old are the monuments of Pézenas?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 10th century.
Is Pézenas a protected historic area?
One is on the way: a site patrimonial remarquable for Pézenas is on the ministry’s list, but its rules are still being drawn up.
When were monuments in Pézenas first protected?
The first in 1931, the latest in 2018.
How old are the homes in Pézenas?
30% 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.