ClasséMonument · protected 1886Arc de Diane et ses abordsPhoto: Eric Gaba ( Sting - fr:Sting ) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Maison du 14e siècle · Photo: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 3.045historic monuments
History of Cahors · Monuments historiques
A secteur sauvegardé since 1972, and 45 historic monuments
The Culture ministry lists 45 historic monuments in Cahors: 19 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 26 inscrit (the second level). That’s 22 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 96% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from Antiquity. We have photos of 42 of them.
Monuments historiques
45
22 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
19
the highest protection
Inscrit
26
the second level
Oldest part
Antiquity
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
15%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Cahors in 42 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Presbytère de la cathédraleClassé
Bibliothèque municipaleClassé
Vestiges de l'amphithéâtre romainClassé
Maison RenaissanceClassé
Anciens rempartsClassé+37See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Protected area
Cahors has had a protected historic area since 1972
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR76-67 | Secteur sauvegardé October 10, 1972 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) May 29, 2017 |
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. A PSMV (plan de sauvegarde et de mise en valeur) is the strictest plan: it covers every building, inside as well as out.
The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.
Map
Where Cahors’ monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Immeuble dit ancien cuvier du Chapître
9 of 19classé monuments stand within 400 m of Immeuble dit ancien cuvier du Chapître, with 29 of the town’s 45 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
45 monuments by protection
19 Classé26 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. 5 monuments have no point on the map.
Classé
19 classé monuments in Cahors
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 3 of the 19 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséArchaeological site · protected 2009Vestiges de l'amphithéâtre romainPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséCathedral · protected 2020cathédrale Saint-ÉtiennePhoto: Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
ClasséReligious building · protected 2020Grenier du chapitre, tour et ancienne prévôtéPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséBuilding · protected 1990Immeuble dit ancien cuvier du ChapîtrePhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHome · protected 1922Ancien palais de Via connu sous l'appellation Château du Roi, actuelle prison d’ÉtatPart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown walls · protected 1910Anciens rempartsPhoto: Eric Gaba ( Sting - fr:Sting ) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
ClasséHouse · protected 1924Maison du 14e sièclePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
ClasséHouse · protected 1862Maison dite de Henri IVPhoto: Eric Gaba ( Sting - fr:Sting ) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
Classé
ClasséSchool · protected 1891Lycée Gambetta, ancien collège des JésuitesPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséPublic building · protected 1999Bibliothèque municipalePart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Religious building · protected 2020Ensemble canonial
Inscrit
26 inscrit monuments in Cahors
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 26, A to Z
Ancien couvent des Bénédictines de la DauradeAncien couvent des Soeurs de GramatAncien ermitageAncien évêché concordataire, actuellement muséeChâteau de LaroqueDemeure médiévaleHôtel de villeImmeuble dit des MirepoisesImmeuble, 40 rue du Portail-AlbanImmeuble, rue PelegriMaison du 15e siècleMaison IssalaMaison LacosteMaison médiévaleMaison Soulié du BruMaison TrémolièreMaison VerdierMaison, 116 rue NationaleMaison, 16 rue du Château-du-RoiMaison, 253 rue NationaleMaison, 321 rue NationaleMaison, 46 rue DonzelleMaison, 71 rue du Cheval-BlancMaison, 83 rue du Docteur-BergougnouxMaison, rue PelegriMaison-Tour
10 more, named only by their kind
10 more are named in the list only by their kind: 8 houses (maisons) and 2 buildings (immeubles), most from the 15th century. The 10 with an address are in the list above, by it.
13th c.2
14th c.1
15th c.4
16th c.1
17th c.2
What’s protected
Most of Cahors’ monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes26
Religious buildings10
Public & civic4
Military & fortified1
Bridges & engineering1
Archaeological sites1
Houses & homes: 26 of 45 monuments (58%). 10 are religious buildings, 6 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 2 have no domain on the list.
How old
How old Cahors’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.2
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.25
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution14
19th century 1801–19003
20th century and later since 19010
27 of 44 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Arc de Diane et ses abords (1st c.). 1 monument has no date on the list.
When protected
13 of Cahors’ monuments were protected in 1925
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1925 · 132020 · 5
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1840: Pont Valentré. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 13 were protected in 1925 alone. 5 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
15% of homes in Cahors were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
15%
Before 1919
6.9%
1919–45
23%
1946–70
29%
1971–90
15%
1991–2005
11%
2006 on
CahorsMedian compared French town
15% 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 (29%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
42 people born in Cahors before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Gérald de Moissac
Jean XXII
Gaucelme de Jean
Jean de Caraman (cardinal)
Jean d'Artis
Géraud Valet de Reganhac
Jean Salleles
Barthélémy Albouys
Louis Antoine Joseph Marie Thérèse d'Hélyot
Antoine Oulié
Amable de Baudus
François Lagarde
Alexandre Conté
Henri Ramel
Pierre Benoît François de Regourd de Vaxis
Anne Jacques Jean Galdemar
Fabrice Labrousse
Léon Gambetta
François Deloncle
Jules Combarieu
1050120013501500165018001950
GM
Gérald de Moissac1050–1108 · Benedictine monk
JX
Jean XXII1244–1334 · pope of the Catholic Church from 1316 to 1334
GJ
Gaucelme de Jean1300–1348 · French Cardinal
FL
Fabrice Labrousse1806–1876 · French playwright
LG
Léon Gambetta1838–1882 · French politician
FD
François Deloncle1856–1922 · French politician
JC
Jules Combarieu1859–1916 · French musicologist
JC
Jean de Caraman (cardinal)1320–1361 · French cardinal of the Holy Roman Church who lived in the 14th century
Everyone born in Cahors Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Cahors has the 2nd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 19,400 to 20,700 residents, by historic monuments.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Cahors
In brief
Cahors in brief
Arc de Diane et ses abords, from Antiquity, is the oldest monument in Cahors. All told, the list holds 45 historic monuments, 19 of them classé, including Maison du 14e siècle. Its old center has been a secteur sauvegardé since 1972. For its size, it has more historic monuments than 96% of compared French towns.
cathédrale Saint-Étienne and other monuments here are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its housing is old: 15% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Its classé monuments cluster together: 9 of them stand within 400 m of Immeuble dit ancien cuvier du Chapître.
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 Cahors
How many historic monuments are there in Cahors?
The Culture ministry lists 45 historic monuments in Cahors: 19 classé and 26 inscrit.
Which monuments in Cahors are classé?
19, among them Arc de Diane et ses abords, Vestiges de l'amphithéâtre romain, cathédrale Saint-Étienne, Église Saint-Urcisse, Grenier du chapitre, tour et ancienne prévôté and Immeuble dit ancien cuvier du Chapître.
How old are the monuments of Cahors?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.
Is Cahors a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Cahors has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1972.
When were monuments in Cahors first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2020.
How old are the homes in Cahors?
15% 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 8, 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.