ClasséAqueduct · protected 1840Aqueduc et ses abordsPhoto: Séraphin-Médéric Mieusement · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Église Saint-Nicolas · Photo: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.017historic monuments
History of Coutances · Monuments historiques
17 historic monuments, more per resident than 95% of compared French towns
A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) is on the ministry’s list; its rules are still being drawn up. The Culture ministry lists 17 historic monuments in Coutances: 5 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 12 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 11th century. We have photos of 16 of them.
Monuments historiques
17
20 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
5
the highest protection
Inscrit
12
the second level
Oldest part
11th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
9.2%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Coutances in 16 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Cathédrale Notre-DameClassé
Hôtel-DieuClassé
Aqueduc et ses abordsClassé
Église Saint-PierreClassé
Ancien parc des Evêques de Coutances (également sur communes de Courcy et Saint-Pierre-de-Coutances)Inscrit+11See 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
Coutances has the 2nd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 8,200 to 8,400 residents, by historic monuments.
Coutances17
#2 of 41for monuments per resident (20 per 10,000). Most per resident: Gennes-Val-de-Loire, Coutances and Anse.
The median town of these has 2. 13 of the 41 have none.
Map
Where Coutances’ monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Cathédrale Notre-Dame
4 of 5classé monuments stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Notre-Dame, with 14 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
5 Classé12 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. 1 monument has no point on the map.
Classé
5 classé monuments in Coutances
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 5 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
Classé
Classé
ClasséHospital · protected 1947Hôtel-DieuPart of the building is protectedPhoto: HaguardDuNord · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
12 inscrit monuments in Coutances
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritHome · protected 1988Ancien parc des Evêques de Coutances (également sur communes de Courcy et Saint-Pierre-de-Coutances)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Perlinkinso · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
Inscrit
InscritPublic building · protected 1973Ancienne Sous-PréfecturePart of the building is protectedPhoto: HaguardDuNord · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
InscritBishop’s palace · protected 2014Ancien évêchéPart of the building is protectedPhoto: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
InscritMonument · protected 2006Statue de Lebrun ou monument à Charles-François LebrunPhoto: Xfigpower · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown house · protected 1992Hôtel Tanquerey de la MontbrièrePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Xfigpower · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritFortified house · protected 1937Tour, rue de la PoissonneriePhoto: Léon et Lévy · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown house · protected 1989Hôtel, 18 rue Quesnel-MorinièrePart of the building is protectedPhoto: HaguardDuNord · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Market hall · protected 2010Halle aux poissonsPart of the building is protected
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Coutances
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes6
Religious buildings3
Public & civic2
Military & fortified1
Tombs & cemeteries1
Bridges & engineering1
Shops & trade1
Houses & homes: 6 of 17 monuments (35%). 3 are religious buildings, 3 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 Coutances’ 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 Revolution5
19th century 1801–19002
20th century and later since 19011
8 of 16 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Ancien parc des Evêques de Coutances (également sur communes de Courcy et Saint-Pierre-de-Coutances) (11th–18th c.). 1 monument has no date on the list.
Protected area
A protected historic area is on its way in Coutances
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR28-15 | ZPPAUP June 21, 1990 | 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
Coutances’ list has grown since 1840
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1840: Aqueduc et ses abords. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 3 were protected in 1946 alone. 1 has been added since 2011.
Born before 1900
28 people born in Coutances before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Jean Brohon
François Le Breton
Louis Le Roy
Robert Bichue
Guillaume Le Gentil
Jean Michel Hubert-Dumanoir
Nicolas Frémin de Beaumont
Gabriel François Charles Frémin-Dumesnil
Auguste François Brohon
Louis Marie Duhamel
Jean-Marthe-Adrien Lhermitte
Michel Louis Joseph Bonté
Charles Brohyer de Littinère
Pierre-Michel Dudouyt
Amanda Fougère
Théophile-Alphonse Desdevises Du Dezert
Adolphe Tardif
Charles François Chevalier
Charles Savary
Georges Le Mare
1500165018001950
GL
Guillaume Le Gentil1725–1792 · French astronomer
JM
Jean-Marthe-Adrien Lhermitte1766–1826 · French admiral
JB
Jean Brohon1501–1575 · French physician and astronomer
FL
François Le Breton1505–1586 · French writer
LL
Louis Le Roy1510–1577 · French writer and professor
RB
Robert Bichue1704–1789 · French painter
JM
Jean Michel Hubert-Dumanoir1744–1827 · French politician
NF
Nicolas Frémin de Beaumont1744–1820 · French politician
Everyone born in Coutances Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Coutances
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coutances | 8,321 | 17 | 5 | Yes |
| Quettreville-sur-Sienne | 3,167 | 3 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Sauveur-Villages | 3,208 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Agon-Coutainville | 3,020 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Gouville-sur-Mer | 3,274 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Marigny-Le-Lozon | 2,761 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Bréhal | 3,487 | 1 | 0 | — |
In brief
Coutances in brief
For its size, Coutances has more historic monuments than 95% of compared French towns. In all there are 17 historic monuments, 5 of them classé, including Église Saint-Nicolas. Cathédrale Notre-Dame sits at the heart of it all, with 4 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. Only one of the 41 towns nearest its size has more historic monuments.
Of the 16 with a date, 8 come from the Middle Ages. The oldest is Ancien parc des Evêques de Coutances (également sur communes de Courcy et Saint-Pierre-de-Coutances), from the 11th century. Of the 28 people born here before 1900, the best known include Guillaume Le Gentil (1725), Jean-Marthe-Adrien Lhermitte (1766) and Jean Brohon (1501). The rest is about typical: 9.2% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.
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 Coutances
How many historic monuments are there in Coutances?
The Culture ministry lists 17 historic monuments in Coutances: 5 classé and 12 inscrit.
Which monuments in Coutances are classé?
5, among them Aqueduc et ses abords, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Église Saint-Nicolas, Église Saint-Pierre and Hôtel-Dieu.
How old are the monuments of Coutances?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 11th century.
Is Coutances a protected historic area?
One is on the way: a site patrimonial remarquable for Coutances is on the ministry’s list, but its rules are still being drawn up.
When were monuments in Coutances first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2014.
How old are the homes in Coutances?
9.2% 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.