Enceinte gallo-romaine · Photo: CTHOE · CC BY-SA 3.010 historic monuments, the oldest from Antiquity
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 1997. The Culture ministry lists 10 historic monuments in Dax: 3 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 7 inscrit (the second level). That’s 4.5 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 5 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Dax in 5 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Ancienne Cathédrale Sainte-Marie (église Notre-Dame)Classé
Fontaine ChaudeClassé
Temple gallo-romainInscrit
Hôtel Saint-Martin-d'AgèsInscrit+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.
How old Dax’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
3 of 10 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Enceinte gallo-romaine (Antiquity).
Where Dax’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
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.
3 classé monuments in Dax
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.
Classé
Classé
Classé7 inscrit monuments in Dax
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
Inscrit
InscritHouses and homes are the largest group in Dax
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 3 of 10 monuments (30%). 1 is a religious building, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 3 have no domain on the list.
Dax has had a protected historic area since 1997
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR75-98 | ZPPAUP February 25, 1997 | ZPPAUP (heritage zone rules) June 19, 2025 |
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.
2 of Dax’s monuments were protected in 1946
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1889: Enceinte gallo-romaine. 2 were protected in 1946 alone. 2 have been added since 2011.
34 people born in Dax before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Everyone born in Dax Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Dax has the 8th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 21,400 to 22,900 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 3. 9 of the 41 have none.
Historic monuments in the towns around Dax
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dax | 22,109 | 10 | 3 | Yes |
| Saint-Paul-lès-Dax | 14,481 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Narrosse | 3,387 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Vincent-de-Paul | 3,402 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Pouillon | 3,134 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Pontonx-sur-l'Adour | 3,021 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Geours-de-Maremne | 3,089 | 1 | 0 | — |
Dax in brief
Enceinte gallo-romaine, from Antiquity, is the oldest monument in Dax. All told, the list holds 10 historic monuments, 3 of them classé, including Enceinte gallo-romaine. In 2021 the Mission Patrimoine picked Temple gallo-romain as a monument in danger to save. Only 7 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments.
Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1997. Most of its dated monuments come from the 20th century or later: 5 of 10. Jean-Charles de Borda (1733), Jacques Delisse (1773) and Raphaël Milliès-Lacroix (1850) are among the 34 people born here before 1900. Beyond that, per resident it sits near the middle of compared French towns; and 5.7% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.
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 Dax
How many historic monuments are there in Dax?
The Culture ministry lists 10 historic monuments in Dax: 3 classé and 7 inscrit.
Which monuments in Dax are classé?
3, among them Enceinte gallo-romaine, Fontaine Chaude and Ancienne Cathédrale Sainte-Marie (église Notre-Dame).
How old are the monuments of Dax?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.
Is Dax a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Dax has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1997.
When were monuments in Dax first protected?
The first in 1889, the latest in 2015.
How old are the homes in Dax?
5.7% 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.