ClasséEngineering work · protected 1930Citerne militairePhoto: Surt Fafnir · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Citerne militaire · Photo: Surt Fafnir · CC BY-SA 3.010historic monuments
History of Bergues · Monuments historiques
10 historic monuments, more per resident than 97% of compared French towns
The Culture ministry lists 10 historic monuments in Bergues: 4 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 6 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 15th century. We have photos of 8 of them.
Monuments historiques
10
28 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
4
the highest protection
Inscrit
6
the second level
Oldest part
15th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
18%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Bergues in 8 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Église Saint-MartinClassé
Enceinte fortifiéeClassé
Ancien Mont de PiétéClassé
Ancienne abbaye Saint-WinocInscrit
Ancienne gendarmerieInscrit+3See 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
Bergues has the 2nd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 3,500 to 3,500 residents, by historic monuments.
Bergues10
#2 of 41for monuments per resident (28 per 10,000). Most per resident: Crémieu, Bergues and La Forêt-Fouesnant.
The median town of these has 1. 10 of the 41 have none.
Map
Where Bergues’ monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Ancien Mont de Piété
3 of 4classé monuments stand within 400 m of Ancien Mont de Piété, with 8 of the town’s 10 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
10 monuments by protection
4 Classé6 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
4 classé monuments in Bergues
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 4 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséPublic building · protected 1907Ancien Mont de PiétéPhoto: Velvet · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséChurch · protected 1907Église Saint-MartinPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Velvet · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséInscrit
6 inscrit monuments in Bergues
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritAbbey · protected 1926Ancienne abbaye Saint-WinocPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritMilitary building · protected 1934Ancienne gendarmeriePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Leroypy · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown house · protected 1981Hôtel Zylof de WindePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Elke Wetzig · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritBuilding · protected 1981Immeuble, 22 rue CarnotPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Elke Wetzig · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Building · protected 1948Immeuble, 25 rue des PotiersPart of the building is protected
Public building · protected 2004Beffroi, place de la RépubliquePart of the building is protected
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Bergues
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes3
Religious buildings2
Military & fortified2
Public & civic2
Bridges & engineering1
Houses & homes: 3 of 10 monuments (30%). 2 are religious buildings, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
When protected
2 of Bergues’ monuments were protected in 1907
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1907: Ancien Mont de Piété and Église Saint-Martin. None has been added since 2011.
Age of homes
18% of homes in Bergues were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
18%
Before 1919
11%
1919–45
32%
1946–70
31%
1971–90
6.4%
1991–2005
2.4%
2006 on
BerguesMedian compared French town
18% 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 (32%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
12 people born in Bergues before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Gérard Van Meckeren
Pierre François Winocq de Hau de Staplande
Jean-Jacques Elshoecht
Louis Joos
Auguste Bellynck
Léon Claeys
Augustin Peène
Émile-Louis-Cornil Lobbedey
Fernand Priem
Louis Cuignet
Léon Charpentier
Gaston-Ernest Cottenest
1500165018001950
GV
Gérard Van Meckeren1500–1562 · vice-admiral of Flanders in the time of Charles V
PF
Pierre François Winocq de Hau de Staplande1762–1840 · French politician
JJ
Jean-Jacques Elshoecht1791–1856 · French sculptor
LJ
Louis Joos1806–1880 · French politician
AB
Auguste Bellynck1814–1877 · Belgian botanist
LC
Léon Claeys1829–1921 · French politician
AP
Augustin Peène1853–1913 · French sculptor
ÉL
Émile-Louis-Cornil Lobbedey1856–1916 · French bishop
Everyone born in Bergues Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Bergues
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergues | 3,525 | 10 | 4 | — |
| Hoymille | 3,259 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Téteghem-Coudekerque-Village | 8,247 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Cappelle-la-Grande | 7,839 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Coudekerque-Branche | 20,787 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Dunkerque | 86,263 | 31 | 4 | — |
| Leffrinckoucke | 4,078 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Bergues in brief
Few towns are as rich in historic monuments as Bergues: per resident it has more than 97% of compared French towns. In all there are 10 historic monuments, 4 of them classé, including Citerne militaire. Its housing is old: 18% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Ancien Mont de Piété sits at the heart of it all, with 3 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. Only one of the 41 towns nearest its size has more historic monuments. Of the 12 people born here before 1900, the best known include Gérard Van Meckeren (1500), Pierre François Winocq de Hau de Staplande (1762) and Jean-Jacques Elshoecht (1791).
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 Bergues
How many historic monuments are there in Bergues?
The Culture ministry lists 10 historic monuments in Bergues: 4 classé and 6 inscrit.
Which monuments in Bergues are classé?
4, among them Citerne militaire, Ancien Mont de Piété, Église Saint-Martin and Enceinte fortifiée.
How old are the monuments of Bergues?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 15th century.
When were monuments in Bergues first protected?
The first in 1907, the latest in 2004.
How old are the homes in Bergues?
18% 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 8, 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.