Ancienne léproserie de la Magdeleine · Photo: Xfigpower · CC BY-SA 3.013 historic monuments, 2 classé
Saint-Lô has 6.7 monuments for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 77% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. Saint-Lô’s oldest monuments date from the 14th century. 10 of Saint-Lô’s monuments are in our photos.
median compared town 2.5
Saint-Lô in 10 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Église Notre-DameClassé
Ensemble architectural du théâtre et de la salle des fêtesInscrit
Poste de commandement du général MarcksInscrit
Haras nationalInscrit
Château de la VaucelleInscrit+5See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Where Saint-Lô’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. 2 monuments have no point on the map.
2 classé monuments in Saint-Lô
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 2 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé11 inscrit monuments in Saint-Lô
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
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InscritPublic buildings are the largest group in Saint-Lô
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Public & civic: 4 of 13 monuments (31%). 1 is a religious building, 1 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 Saint-Lô’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
3 of 6 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Château de la Vaucelle (14th & 16th c.). 7 monuments have no date on the list.
Saint-Lô’s list has grown since 1840
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1840: Église Notre-Dame. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 2 were protected in 2018 alone. 4 have been added since 2011.
3.2% of homes in Saint-Lô were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
3.2% 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 (39%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
25 people born in Saint-Lô before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Everyone born in Saint-Lô Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Saint-Lô has the 10th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 18,700 to 20,300 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 5. 6 of the 41 have none.
Historic monuments in the towns around Saint-Lô
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Lô | 19,471 | 13 | 2 | — |
| Agneaux | 4,286 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Bourgvallées | 3,326 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Condé-sur-Vire | 4,137 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Jean-d'Elle | 2,516 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Marigny-Le-Lozon | 2,761 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Amand-Villages | 2,525 | 1 | 0 | — |
Saint-Lô in brief
Per resident, Saint-Lô has more historic monuments than 77% of compared French towns. In all there are 13 historic monuments, 2 of them classé. In 2024 the Mission Patrimoine picked Haras national as a monument in danger to save. Only 9 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments.
Most of its dated monuments come from the Middle Ages: 3 of 6. The oldest, Château de la Vaucelle, dates from the 14th century. Jacques Davy du Perron (1556), Urbain Le Verrier (1811) and Fernand Le Gout-Gérard (1854) are among the 25 people born here before 1900.
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-Lô
How many historic monuments are there in Saint-Lô?
The Culture ministry lists 13 historic monuments in Saint-Lô: 2 classé and 11 inscrit.
Which monuments in Saint-Lô are classé?
2, among them Hôpital - mémorial France - Etats-Unis and Église Notre-Dame.
How old are the monuments of Saint-Lô?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 14th century.
When were monuments in Saint-Lô first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2024.
How old are the homes in Saint-Lô?
3.2% 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.