Hôtel de Florainville, actuellement hôtel de ville · Photo: Pymouss · CC BY-SA 3.0A secteur sauvegardé since 1975, and 37 historic monuments
The Culture ministry lists 37 historic monuments in Bar-le-Duc: 23 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 14 inscrit (the second level). That’s 25 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 97% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 12th century. We have photos of 35 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Bar-le-Duc in 35 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Hôtel de l'Escale (ancien)Classé
Collège Gilles de Trèves (ancien)Classé
Immeuble dit Hôtel de la BessièreClassé
ImmeubleClassé
Bâtiments de la PréfectureClassé+30See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Bar-le-Duc has had a protected historic area since 1975
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR44-32 | Secteur sauvegardé May 1, 1975 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) January 20, 1993 |
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.
Where Bar-le-Duc’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.
23 classé monuments in Bar-le-Duc
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 17 of the 23 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
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Classé14 inscrit monuments in Bar-le-Duc
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 14, A to Z
8 more, named only by their kind
8 more are named in the list only by their kind: 5 buildings (immeubles), 1 house (maison) and 2 others, most from the 16th and 17th centuries. The 8 with an address are in the list above, by it.
Most of Bar-le-Duc’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes: 27 of 37 monuments (73%). 4 are religious buildings, 3 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 Bar-le-Duc’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
3 of 30 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Église Notre-Dame (12th–19th c.). 7 monuments have no date on the list.
11 of Bar-le-Duc’s monuments were protected in 1992
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1889: église Saint-Étienne. 11 were protected in 1992 alone. 2 have been added since 2011.
14% of homes in Bar-le-Duc were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
14% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1946 and 1970 than in any other period (31%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
45 people born in Bar-le-Duc before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Everyone born in Bar-le-Duc Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Bar-le-Duc has the 2nd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 14,200 to 15,000 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 2. 8 of the 41 have none.
Historic monuments in the towns around Bar-le-Duc
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bar-le-Duc | 14,607 | 37 | 23 | Yes |
| Ligny-en-Barrois | 3,677 | 7 | 1 | — |
| Ancerville | 2,569 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Saint-Dizier Haute-Marne | 22,858 | 12 | 2 | — |
Bar-le-Duc in brief
Since 1975, the heart of Bar-le-Duc has been a secteur sauvegardé, France’s strictest protection for a historic town. In all there are 37 historic monuments, 23 of them classé, including Hôtel de Florainville, actuellement hôtel de ville. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 97% of compared French towns. Its housing is old: 14% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Its classé monuments cluster together: 22 of them stand within 400 m of Tour de l'Horloge. In 2018 the Mission Patrimoine picked Théâtre des Bleus de Bar as a monument in danger to save. Only one of the 41 towns nearest its size has more historic monuments.
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 Bar-le-Duc
How many historic monuments are there in Bar-le-Duc?
The Culture ministry lists 37 historic monuments in Bar-le-Duc: 23 classé and 14 inscrit.
Which monuments in Bar-le-Duc are classé?
23, among them Église Notre-Dame, Tour Heyblot, Église Saint-Antoine, Collège Gilles de Trèves (ancien), Hôtel de Florainville, actuellement hôtel de ville and Hôtel de l'Escale (ancien).
How old are the monuments of Bar-le-Duc?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 12th century.
Is Bar-le-Duc a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Bar-le-Duc has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1975.
When were monuments in Bar-le-Duc first protected?
The first in 1889, the latest in 2020.
How old are the homes in Bar-le-Duc?
14% 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.