ClasséHospital · protected 1965Ancien hôtel-DieuPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Joecoolandcharlie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Ancien hôtel-Dieu · Photo: Joecoolandcharlie · CC BY-SA 3.012historic monuments
History of Issoudun · Monuments historiques
12 historic monuments, 4 classé
Issoudun has 11 monuments for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 87% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) is on the ministry’s list; its rules are still being drawn up. Issoudun’s oldest monuments date from the 10th century. 5 of Issoudun’s monuments are in our photos.
Monuments historiques
12
11 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
4
the highest protection
Inscrit
8
the second level
Oldest part
10th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
18%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Issoudun in 5 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Tour BlancheClassé
Église Saint-CyrClassé
Porte dite de l'HorlogeClassé
Anciennes allées de Frapesle et de Tivoli, et propriété de FrapesleInscrit+1See 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 Issoudun’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Église Saint-Cyr
4 of 4classé monuments stand within 400 m of Église Saint-Cyr, with 10 of the town’s 12 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
12 monuments by protection
4 Classé8 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 Issoudun
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 2 of the 4 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
ClasséChurch · protected 1930Église Saint-CyrPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Joecoolandcharlie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown gate · protected 1916Porte dite de l'HorlogePhoto: Benjism89 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
8 inscrit monuments in Issoudun
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritResidence · protected 1993Anciennes allées de Frapesle et de Tivoli, et propriété de FrapeslePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Martine Maillard · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Town walls · protected 1986Rempart médiéval de l'Ilot VillattePart of the building is protected
Convent · protected 1948Couvent de la Visitation, dit aussi Château
House · protected 1967Maison du 15e sièclePart of the building is protected
House · protected 1967Maison du 15e sièclePart of the building is protected
War memorial · protected 2020Monument aux morts de la guerre de 1870-1871
Building · protected 1987Immeuble, 46, 48 rue de MontélimarPart of the building is protected
House · protected 1963Maison, 2 place Saint-CyrPart of the building is protected
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Issoudun
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes5
Military & fortified3
Religious buildings2
Public & civic1
Tombs & cemeteries1
Houses & homes: 5 of 12 monuments (42%). 2 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
How old
How old Issoudun’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.8
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution1
19th century 1801–19002
20th century and later since 19010
8 of 11 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Rempart médiéval de l'Ilot Villatte (Middle Ages). 1 monument has no date on the list.
Protected area
A protected historic area is on its way in Issoudun
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR24-13 | ZPPAUP June 25, 1996 | 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
Issoudun’s list has grown since 1840
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1840: Tour Blanche. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 2 were protected in 1967 alone. 1 has been added since 2011.
Age of homes
18% of homes in Issoudun were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
18%
Before 1919
10%
1919–45
29%
1946–70
26%
1971–90
12%
1991–2005
5.3%
2006 on
IssoudunMedian compared French town
18% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1946 and 1970 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
35 people born in Issoudun before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Guillaume François Berthier
Pierre-Joseph Luneau de Boisjermain
Jean-Baptiste Collet de Messine
Pierre Poya de L'Herbay
Charles-Benoît Fauvre-Labrunerie
André Foussedoire
François Augustin Trumeau
Sylvain-Phalier Lejeune
Jean-Claude Charlemagne
Pierre Denis de La Châtre
Jean-Nicolas-Marie Deguerle
Jean-François Thurot
Pierre Heurtault du Metz
Zulma Carraud
Auguste Borget
Maurice Lachâtre
Abdolonyme Ubicini
Jean Dufour
Auguste Le Cherbonnier
Jules Cotard
170017501800185019001950
GF
Guillaume François Berthier1704–1782 · French historian and librarian
ZC
Zulma Carraud1796–1889 · French writer
AB
Auguste Borget1808–1877 · French painter
AU
Abdolonyme Ubicini1818–1884 · French historian and journalist
JD
Jean Dufour1818–1883 · French politician
JC
Jules Cotard1840–1889 · French neurologist
PJ
Pierre-Joseph Luneau de Boisjermain1732–1801 · French publisher
JB
Jean-Baptiste Collet de Messine1741–1818 · French politician, playwright and journalist
Everyone born in Issoudun Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Issoudun has the 6th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 10,900 to 11,400 residents, by historic monuments.
Issoudun12
#7 of 41for monuments per resident (11 per 10,000). Most per resident: Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Briançon and Pont-Saint-Esprit.
The median town of these has 1. 11 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Issoudun
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issoudun | 11,159 | 12 | 4 | Yes |
| Saint-Florent-sur-Cher Cher | 6,463 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Déols | 7,600 | 9 | 2 | — |
| Ardentes | 3,715 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Méreau Cher | 2,632 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Châteauroux | 42,963 | 20 | 4 | Yes |
| Mehun-sur-Yèvre Cher | 6,380 | 5 | 3 | — |
In brief
Issoudun in brief
Rempart médiéval de l'Ilot Villatte, from the 10th century, is the oldest monument in Issoudun. In all there are 12 historic monuments, 4 of them classé, including Ancien hôtel-Dieu. Its housing is old: 18% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 87% of compared French towns.
Église Saint-Cyr sits at the heart of it all, with 4 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. Only 5 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Of the 11 with a date, 8 come from the Middle Ages.
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 Issoudun
How many historic monuments are there in Issoudun?
The Culture ministry lists 12 historic monuments in Issoudun: 4 classé and 8 inscrit.
Which monuments in Issoudun are classé?
4, among them Ancien hôtel-Dieu, Tour Blanche, Église Saint-Cyr and Porte dite de l'Horloge.
How old are the monuments of Issoudun?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 10th century.
Is Issoudun a protected historic area?
One is on the way: a site patrimonial remarquable for Issoudun is on the ministry’s list, but its rules are still being drawn up.
When were monuments in Issoudun first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2020.
How old are the homes in Issoudun?
18% 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.