Église Saint-Armel · Photo: Philippe Alès · CC BY-SA 4.023 historic monuments, more per resident than 96% of compared French towns
The Culture ministry lists 23 historic monuments in Ploërmel: 3 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 20 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 12th century. We have photos of 21 of them.
median compared town 2.5
Ploërmel in 21 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Maison dite des MarmousetsClassé
Ancien hôtel des Ducs de BretagneClassé
Ancien couvent des CarmélitesInscrit
Château et parc de la Haute-ToucheInscrit
Ancien hôtel Le GouesbeInscrit+16See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Ploërmel has the most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 10,000 to 10,300 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 1. 12 of the 41 have none.
Where Ploërmel’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. 1 monument has no point on the map.
3 classé monuments in Ploërmel
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
Classé20 inscrit monuments in Ploërmel
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 18, A to Z
3 more, named only by their kind
3 more are named in the list only by their kind: 3 others, most from the 12th century. The one with an address is in the list above, by it.
Most of Ploërmel’s monuments are churches and religious buildings
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Religious buildings: 13 of 23 monuments (57%).
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
How old Ploërmel’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
4 of 19 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Chapelle Saint-Antoine (15th c.). 4 monuments have no date on the list.
11 of Ploërmel’s monuments were protected in 1927
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1840: Église Saint-Armel. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 11 were protected in 1927 alone. 1 has been added since 2011.
13 people born in Ploërmel before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Everyone born in Ploërmel Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Historic monuments in the towns around Ploërmel
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ploërmel | 10,163 | 23 | 3 | — |
| Val d'Oust | 2,807 | 7 | 1 | — |
| Josselin | 2,584 | 19 | 3 | Yes |
| Malestroit | 2,558 | 11 | 2 | Yes |
| Sérent | 3,429 | 3 | 2 | — |
| Mauron | 3,163 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Guer | 6,208 | 4 | 3 | — |
Ploërmel in brief
Few towns are as rich in historic monuments as Ploërmel: per resident it has more than 96% of compared French towns. In all there are 23 historic monuments, 3 of them classé, including Église Saint-Armel. No town its size has more historic monuments: it leads the 41 nearest in population. Its classé monuments cluster together: 3 of them stand within 400 m of Ancien hôtel des Ducs de Bretagne. In 2019 the Mission Patrimoine picked Ancien couvent des Carmélites as a monument in danger to save.
Most entries on the list, 57%, are churches and religious buildings. Most of its dated monuments come from the 16th to 18th centuries: 15 of 19. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: 7.5% 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 Ploërmel
How many historic monuments are there in Ploërmel?
The Culture ministry lists 23 historic monuments in Ploërmel: 3 classé and 20 inscrit.
Which monuments in Ploërmel are classé?
3, among them Église Saint-Armel, Ancien hôtel des Ducs de Bretagne and Maison dite des Marmousets.
How old are the monuments of Ploërmel?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 12th century.
When were monuments in Ploërmel first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2011.
How old are the homes in Ploërmel?
7.5% 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.