ClasséChurch · protected 1911Église Notre-Dame de Mouthier-le-VieillardPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Fontaine publique dite Fontaine des Morts · Photo: Pymouss · CC BY-SA 4.017historic monuments
History of Poligny · Monuments historiques
17 historic monuments, more per resident than 99% of compared French towns
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 2000. The Culture ministry lists 17 historic monuments in Poligny: 9 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 8 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 12th century. We have photos of 17 of them.
Monuments historiques
17
43 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
9
the highest protection
Inscrit
8
the second level
Oldest part
12th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
31%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Poligny in 17 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Ancien couvent des UrsulinesClassé
Ancien couvent des JacobinsClassé
Église Notre-Dame de Mouthier-le-VieillardClassé
Fontaine du Cheval MarinClassé
CollègeClassé+12See 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
Poligny has the most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 4,000 to 4,000 residents, by historic monuments.
Poligny17
#1 of 41for monuments per resident (43 per 10,000). Most per resident: Poligny, Semur-en-Auxois and Gourin.
The median town of these has 2. 9 of the 41 have none.
Map
Where Poligny’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Ancien couvent des Jacobins
8 of 9classé monuments stand within 400 m of Ancien couvent des Jacobins, with 13 of the town’s 17 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
17 monuments by protection
9 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
9 classé monuments in Poligny
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 4 of the 9 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséConvent · protected 1945Ancien couvent des JacobinsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Arnaud 25 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
ClasséFortified house · protected 1985Tour de la SergenteriePhoto: Médard · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséFountain · protected 1911Fontaine publique dite Fontaine des MortsPhoto: Pymouss · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséConvent · protected 1989Ancien couvent des UrsulinesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Plindenbaum · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséFountain · protected 1992Fontaine du Cheval MarinPhoto: Cjulien21 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown hall · protected 1992Hôtel de ville, ancien bailliage et anciennes prisonsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: photography taken by Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséSchool · protected 1941CollègePart of the building is protectedPhoto: photography taken by Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
8 inscrit monuments in Poligny
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritPublic building · protected 1927Ancien prieuré de Vaux, puis ancien petit séminaire, actuellement collège Notre-Dame de VauxPart of the building is protectedPhoto: JGS25 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritConvent · protected 2006Monastère des ClarissesPhoto: photography taken by Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
InscritMonument · protected 1990Abattoir municipal, actuellement entrepôtPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritChâteau · protected 1998Château de Vaux-sur-PolignyPart of the building is protectedPhoto: PRA · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown walls · protected 1991Enceinte urbainePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritHouse · protected 1970Maison, Grande-Rue 18Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Shev123 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritWhat’s protected
Churches and religious buildings are the largest group in Poligny
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Religious buildings5
Houses & homes5
Military & fortified2
Public & civic2
Religious buildings: 5 of 17 monuments (29%).
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 3 have no domain on the list.
How old
How old Poligny’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.4
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution10
19th century 1801–19002
20th century and later since 19010
4 of 16 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Église Notre-Dame de Mouthier-le-Vieillard (12th & 14th c.). 1 monument has no date on the list.
Protected area
Poligny has had a protected historic area since 2000
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR27-31 | ZPPAUP December 27, 2000 | PVAP (heritage plan) July 5, 2022 |
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
Poligny’s list has grown since 1911
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1911: Église Notre-Dame de Mouthier-le-Vieillard, Église Saint-Hippolyte and Fontaine publique dite Fontaine des Morts. None has been added since 2011.
Age of homes
31% of homes in Poligny were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
31%
Before 1919
8.2%
1919–45
17%
1946–70
31%
1971–90
6.2%
1991–2005
5.5%
2006 on
PolignyMedian compared French town
31% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1971 and 1990 than in any other period (31%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
9 people born in Poligny before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Jean Matal
Rémy Hippolyte Bidault
Jacques Pierre Prothade d'Astorg
Jean-Pierre Travot
Wladimir Gagneur
Désiré Chevassu
Éléonore Escallier
Georges Kriéger
Paul Giauque
1500165018001950
JP
Jean-Pierre Travot1767–1836 · French general
JM
Jean Matal1517–1597 · Burgundian humanist
RH
Rémy Hippolyte Bidault1747–1810 · French politician
JP
Jacques Pierre Prothade d'Astorg1759–1828 · French politician
WG
Wladimir Gagneur1807–1889 · French politician
DC
Désiré Chevassu1810–1869 · French politician
ÉE
Éléonore Escallier1827–1888 · French painter
GK
Georges Kriéger1885–1914 · French composer
Everyone born in Poligny Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Poligny
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poligny | 3,976 | 17 | 9 | Yes |
| Arbois | 3,114 | 11 | 3 | Yes |
| Champagnole | 8,036 | 3 | 0 | — |
| Lons-le-Saunier | 16,618 | 83 | 7 | Yes |
| Montmorot | 3,261 | 1 | 1 | — |
In brief
Poligny in brief
For its size, Poligny has more historic monuments than 99% of compared French towns. In all there are 17 historic monuments, 9 of them classé, including Fontaine publique dite Fontaine des Morts. No town its size has more historic monuments: it leads the 41 nearest in population. Of its homes, 31% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Its classé monuments cluster together: 8 of them stand within 400 m of Ancien couvent des Jacobins. Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2000. Of the 16 with a date, 10 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 Poligny
How many historic monuments are there in Poligny?
The Culture ministry lists 17 historic monuments in Poligny: 9 classé and 8 inscrit.
Which monuments in Poligny are classé?
9, among them Église Notre-Dame de Mouthier-le-Vieillard, Ancien couvent des Jacobins, Église Saint-Hippolyte, Tour de la Sergenterie, Fontaine publique dite Fontaine des Morts and Ancien couvent des Ursulines.
How old are the monuments of Poligny?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 12th century.
Is Poligny a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Poligny has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2000.
When were monuments in Poligny first protected?
The first in 1911, the latest in 2006.
How old are the homes in Poligny?
31% 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 9, 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.