ClasséHouse · protected 2019Domaine de VillèlePhoto: Cette photo a été prise par Matthieu Sontag (User:Mirgolth) et placée sous les licences ci-dessous. Vous êtes libre de la réutiliser, pour n'importe quelle utilisation, tant que vous me citez en tant qu'auteur, Wikimedia Commons en tant que site et suivez · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Chapelle Pointue de Saint-Gilles-les-Hauts · Photo: Thierry Caro · CC BY-SA 4.029historic monuments
History of Saint-Paul · Monuments historiques
29 historic monuments, 3 classé
The oldest monuments in Saint-Paul date from the 18th century. Saint-Paul has 2.7 monuments for every 10,000 residents; the median compared French town has 2.5. We have photos of 20 of Saint-Paul’s monuments.
Monuments historiques
29
2.7 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
3
the highest protection
Inscrit
25
the second level
Oldest part
18th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
0.3%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Saint-Paul in 20 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Maison Desbassyns (ancienne)Classé
Domaine de VillèleClassé
Villa Rivière, anciennement nommée villa DesvignesInscrit
Villa VerguinInscrit
Ancien domaine de SavannaInscrit+15See 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 Saint-Paul’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscrit
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
29 monuments by protection
3 Classé25 Inscrit1 Level not given
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. 1 monument has no point on the map.
Classé
3 classé monuments in Saint-Paul
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 3 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséHouse · protected 1984Maison Desbassyns (ancienne)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Thierry Caro · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséChapel · protected 1970Chapelle Pointue de Saint-Gilles-les-HautsPhoto: Thierry Caro · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
26 inscrit monuments in Saint-Paul
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared. 1 of them has no protection level on the list.
All 26, A to Z
Ancien domaine de SavannaAncien marché de Saint-PaulAncienne batterie de Saint-GillesBain-BoeufCheminée dite "Le Piton"Cheminée dite de "Bellemène"Cheminée dite de "Grand-Fond"Cheminée dite de "L'Eperon"Cheminée dite de "Savanna"Cheminée dite de "Vue Belle"Cimetière marinDomaine de ClermontDomaine de La PoncetièreDomaine GruchetÉglise, 68 rue LabourdonnaisFontaine de la ViergeHangar FillodHôtel LaçayInstallation hydraulique de la ravine Saint-GillesL'usine de BruniquelLongère communalePoudrière, chemin du Tour-des-RochesThéâtre de plein air de Saint-Gilles-les-BainsVilla BourbonVilla Rivière, anciennement nommée villa DesvignesVilla Verguin
2 more, named only by their kind
2 more are named in the list only by their kind: 2 others, most from the 18th century. The 2 with an address are in the list above, by it.
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Saint-Paul
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes9
Industrial8
Bridges & engineering3
Religious buildings2
Military & fortified2
Shops & trade2
Public & civic1
Tombs & cemeteries1
Houses & homes: 9 of 29 monuments (31%). 2 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 1 has no domain on the list.
How old
How old Saint-Paul’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.0
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution5
19th century 1801–19009
20th century and later since 19013
The oldest dated: Ancien domaine de Savanna (18th & 19th c.). 12 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
Saint-Paul’s list has grown since 1970
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
2002 · 5
1960198020002020
First protected, in 1970: Chapelle Pointue de Saint-Gilles-les-Hauts. 5 were protected in 2002 alone. 11 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
0.3% of homes in Saint-Paul were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
0.3%
Before 1919
1.1%
1919–45
8.6%
1946–70
29%
1971–90
34%
1991–2005
26%
2006 on
Saint-PaulMedian compared French town
0.3% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1991 and 2005 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
5 people born in Saint-Paul before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Henri Paulin Panon Desbassayns
Philippe Panon Desbassyns de Richemont
Antoine-Émile Grimaud
Jules Auber
Henry de Heaulme
170017501800185019001950
HP
Henri Paulin Panon Desbassayns1732–1800 · ancient owner of Bourbon Island, now La Reunion
PP
Philippe Panon Desbassyns de Richemont1774–1840 · slave plantation owner and French politician
AÉ
Antoine-Émile Grimaud1821–1855 · French painter
JA
Jules Auber1867–1928 · French politician
HH
Henry de Heaulme1899–1986 · French politician and entrepreneur
Everyone born in Saint-Paul Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Saint-Paul
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Paul | 108,088 | 29 | 3 | — |
| Les Trois-Bassins | 7,221 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Le Port | 33,969 | 6 | 0 | — |
| La Possession | 36,568 | 4 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Leu | 36,163 | 5 | 1 | — |
| Les Avirons | 11,536 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Cilaos | 5,040 | 1 | 0 | — |
In brief
Saint-Paul in brief
The official list counts 29 historic monuments in Saint-Paul, 3 of them classé. In 2018 the Mission Patrimoine picked Hôtel Laçay as a monument in danger to save. Most of its dated monuments come from the 19th century: 9 of 17. The oldest, Ancien domaine de Savanna, dates from the 18th century.
Henri Paulin Panon Desbassayns (1732), Philippe Panon Desbassyns de Richemont (1774) and Antoine-Émile Grimaud (1821) are among the 5 people born here before 1900. Its homes are mostly newer: 0.3% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. The rest is about typical: it has 29 historic monuments, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 31); and per resident it sits near the middle of compared French towns.
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 Saint-Paul
How many historic monuments are there in Saint-Paul?
The Culture ministry lists 29 historic monuments in Saint-Paul: 3 classé and 25 inscrit.
Which monuments in Saint-Paul are classé?
3, among them Domaine de Villèle, Maison Desbassyns (ancienne) and Chapelle Pointue de Saint-Gilles-les-Hauts.
How old are the monuments of Saint-Paul?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 18th century.
When were monuments in Saint-Paul first protected?
The first in 1970, the latest in 2025.
How old are the homes in Saint-Paul?
0.3% 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.