ClasséTown walls · protected 1912Anciens rempartsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Anciens remparts · Photo: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.037historic monuments
History of Vannes · Monuments historiques
A secteur sauvegardé since 1966, and 37 historic monuments
The Culture ministry lists 37 historic monuments in Vannes: 6 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 31 inscrit (the second level). That’s 6.6 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 77% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 4th century. We have photos of 37 of them.
Monuments historiques
37
6.6 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
6
the highest protection
Inscrit
31
the second level
Oldest part
4th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
4.7%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Vannes in 37 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Hôtel de LimurClassé
Ancien couvent des UrsulinesClassé
MaisonClassé
Ancien hôtel du Parlement de Bretagne, dit Château-GaillardClassé
Cathédrale Saint-PierreClassé+32See 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
Vannes has had a protected historic area since 1966
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR53-83 | Secteur sauvegardé August 19, 1966 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) May 23, 2018 |
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 Vannes’ monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Ancien hôtel du Parlement de Bretagne, dit Château-Gaillard
6 of 6classé monuments stand within 400 m of Ancien hôtel du Parlement de Bretagne, dit Château-Gaillard, with 32 of the town’s 37 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
37 monuments by protection
6 Classé31 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.
Classé
6 classé monuments in Vannes
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 4 of the 6 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséPublic building · protected 1913Ancien hôtel du Parlement de Bretagne, dit Château-GaillardPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Julien1978 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséCathedral · protected 1906Cathédrale Saint-PierrePhoto: nl:User:LimoWreck · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséConvent · protected 1988Ancien couvent des UrsulinesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
ClasséHouse · protected 1943Maison, 19 rue Saint-GuenhaëlPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Fab5669 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
31 inscrit monuments in Vannes
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 30, A to Z
Ancien hôtel de FranchevilleAncienne cohueChapelle Notre-Dame du RohicChapelle Saint-GuenChâteau de l'HermineCollège Jules-SimonCroix du 16e siècle située près de la chapelle du RohicCroix Fitzgerald, anciennement dans le cimetièreÉglise Saint-PaternHôtel de villeHôtel Saint-GeorgesImmeuble des anciens Etablissements Petit-FersMaison dite de Saint-VincentMaison dite de Saint-YvesMaison dite de Vannes et sa femmeMaison dite des Trois-Piliers et maison voisine, à l'angle des deux ruesMaison, 10 rue Saint-SalomonMaison, 17 rue Saint-GuenhaëlMaison, 2 place Henri-IVMaison, 21 rue Saint-GuenhaëlMaison, 23 rue des HallesMaison, 23 rue Saint-GuenhaëlMaison, 29 rue Saint-GuenhaëlMaison, 3 place Henri-IVMaison, 31 rue Saint-GuenhaëlMaison, 32 rue des ChanoinesMaison, 5 place Henri-IVMaison, 6 place Henri-IVMaisons, 25, 27 rue Saint-GuenhaëlPréfecture, place du Général-de-Gaulle
15 more, named only by their kind
15 more are named in the list only by their kind: 13 houses (maisons) and 2 others, most from the 16th century. The 14 with an address are in the list above, by it.
14th c.1
15th c.2
16th c.6
19th c.1
undated5
What’s protected
Most of Vannes’ monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes22
Religious buildings7
Public & civic3
Tombs & cemeteries1
Shops & trade1
Houses & homes: 22 of 37 monuments (59%). 7 are religious buildings, 2 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 3 have no domain on the list.
How old
How old Vannes’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.1
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.10
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution17
19th century 1801–19004
20th century and later since 19010
11 of 32 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Anciens remparts (4th–17th c.). 5 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
17 of Vannes’ monuments were protected in 1929
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1929 · 17
1900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1906: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre. 17 were protected in 1929 alone. 1 has been added since 2011.
Age of homes
4.7% of homes in Vannes were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
4.7%
Before 1919
4.3%
1919–45
18%
1946–70
32%
1971–90
23%
1991–2005
18%
2006 on
VannesMedian compared French town
4.7% 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 (32%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
41 people born in Vannes before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Jean V de Bretagne
François Ier de Bretagne
Louis-François Duplessis de Mornay
Joseph Abeille
Joseph-Pierre de Bonnécamps
René Gabriel
Jean, Joseph Danet
Barthélémy Guillo du Bodan
Jean-Marie Leblanc
René Marie Jollivet
François Marie Lamour
Gabriel Fabre
Jean-Marie Leridant
Vincent-Jean-Marie Caradec
Adolphe Billault
Paul César Helleu
Emmanuel Desgrées du Loû
Joseph Jiquel Lanoë
René de Marmande
Paul Gury
13501500165018001950
JV
Jean V de Bretagne1389–1442 · Duke of Brittany, Count of Montfort
FI
François Ier de Bretagne1414–1450 · Duke of Brittany
LF
Louis-François Duplessis de Mornay1663–1741 · Catholic bishop
JA
Joseph Abeille1673–1756 · French architect and engineer
JP
Joseph-Pierre de Bonnécamps1708–1790 · French Jesuit
AB
Adolphe Billault1805–1863 · French politician
PC
Paul César Helleu1859–1927 · French portrait artist
ED
Emmanuel Desgrées du Loû1867–1933 · French journalist
Everyone born in Vannes Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Vannes has the 6th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 51,000 to 60,500 residents, by historic monuments.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Vannes
In brief
Vannes in brief
Since 1966, the heart of Vannes has been a secteur sauvegardé, France’s strictest protection for a historic town. All told, the list holds 37 historic monuments, 6 of them classé, including Anciens remparts. For its size, it has more historic monuments than 77% of compared French towns. Ancien hôtel du Parlement de Bretagne, dit Château-Gaillard sits at the heart of it all, with 6 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. In 2025 the Mission Patrimoine picked Maison dite de Saint-Vincent as a monument in danger to save.
Only 5 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Of the whole list, 59% are houses and homes.
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 Vannes
How many historic monuments are there in Vannes?
The Culture ministry lists 37 historic monuments in Vannes: 6 classé and 31 inscrit.
Which monuments in Vannes are classé?
6, among them Anciens remparts, Ancien hôtel du Parlement de Bretagne, dit Château-Gaillard, Cathédrale Saint-Pierre, Ancien couvent des Ursulines and Hôtel de Limur.
How old are the monuments of Vannes?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 4th century.
Is Vannes a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Vannes has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1966.
When were monuments in Vannes first protected?
The first in 1906, the latest in 2016.
How old are the homes in Vannes?
4.7% 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.