ClasséHouse · protected 1928Maison des Templiers, dite aussi Maison Notre-DamePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Cécile D · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Ancien couvent des Chartreux · Photo: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.046historic monuments
History of Douai · Monuments historiques
46 historic monuments, 11 classé
For every 10,000 residents Douai counts 11 monuments, more per resident than 88% of compared French towns, against 2.5 in the median compared French town. Douai’s oldest monuments date from the 12th century. 43 of Douai’s monuments are in our photos.
Monuments historiques
46
11 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
11
the highest protection
Inscrit
35
the second level
Oldest part
12th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
9.5%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Douai in 43 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Porte de Valenciennes ou Porte VacqueresseClassé
Maison des Templiers, dite aussi Maison Notre-DameClassé
Ancien Hôtel-DieuClassé
Hôtel de la Tramerie ou Hôtel RenaissanceClassé
Ancien collège de la Compagnie de Jésus d'AnchinClassé+38See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Map
Where Douai’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Hôtel de ville et beffroi
4 of 11classé monuments stand within 400 m of Hôtel de ville et beffroi, with 26 of the town’s 46 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
46 monuments by protection
11 Classé35 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. 1 monument has no point on the map.
Classé
11 classé monuments in Douai
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 4 of the 11 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséTown hall · protected 1862Hôtel de ville et beffroiPhoto: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown gate · protected 1928Porte de Valenciennes ou Porte VacqueressePhoto: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséSchool · protected 1930Ancien collège de la Compagnie de Jésus d'AnchinPart of the building is protectedPhoto: This illustration was made by Peter Potrowl . · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséConvent · protected 1930Ancien couvent des ChartreuxPhoto: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHospital · protected 1926Ancien Hôtel-DieuPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Serge Ottaviani · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown house · protected 1931Hôtel de la Tramerie ou Hôtel RenaissancePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Serge Ottaviani · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
ClasséChurch · protected 1974Ancienne collégiale Saint-PierrePhoto: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséInscrit
35 inscrit monuments in Douai
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 35, A to Z
Ancien couvent des Capucins, dans le Jardin des PlantesAncienne chapelle des Bénédictins anglais ou chapelle du Lycée Jean-Baptiste CorotAncienne filature dite Les Textiles de DouaiCirque, appelé ancien hippodromeHôpital généralHôtel d'AoustHôtel de Warenghien de FloryHôtel du DauphinHôtel RomagnantL’école et la salle des fêtes de la cité de SolitudeMaison dite de la PouleMaison dite Hôtel du Gouverneur ou Hôtel de la GouvernanceMaison, 10 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 16 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 21, 27 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 24 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 30 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 31 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 36 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 383 rue d'EsquerchinMaison, 39 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 42 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 42 rue d'ArrasMaison, 47 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 51 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 51 rue de la MassueMaison, 51 rue Jean-BellegambeMaison, 65 rue du Clocher Saint-PierreMaison, 72 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, 9 place du Marché-au-PoissonMaison, Petite-Place 2Palais de JusticePlace du Marché-au-PoissonPorte d'ArrasQuartier de Caux
19 more, named only by their kind
19 more are named in the list only by their kind: 19 houses (maisons), most from the 17th century. The 19 with an address are in the list above, by it.
13th c.1
14th c.1
17th c.7
18th c.1
19th c.1
undated8
What’s protected
Most of Douai’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes25
Public & civic8
Religious buildings6
Military & fortified3
Industrial1
Houses & homes: 25 of 46 monuments (54%). 6 are religious buildings, 4 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 Douai’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.0
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.6
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution22
19th century 1801–19002
20th century and later since 19012
6 of 32 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Maison des Templiers, dite aussi Maison Notre-Dame (12th c.). 14 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
Douai’s list has grown since 1862
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1971 · 91945 · 8
186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1862: Hôtel de ville et beffroi. 9 were protected in 1971 alone. 2 have been added since 2011.
Born before 1900
96 people born in Douai before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Antoine Legrand
Jean-Baptiste Lestiboudois
Charles Alexandre de Calonne
Charles-Louis Corbet
Eustache Charles d'Aoust
Pierre François Joseph Durutte
Nicolas François Conroux
Eugène Antoine François Merlin
Romain-Hippolyte Duthillœul
Nicolas Martin du Nord
Théophile Bra
Constant Dutilleux
Pierre Zaccone
André-Louis-Adolphe Laoust
Ferdinand Dutert
Édouard Houssin
Georges Demenÿ
Jules Scalbert
Paul Souriau
Maurice Pellé
16001650170017501800185019001950
AL
Antoine Legrand1629–1699 · French philosopher
JB
Jean-Baptiste Lestiboudois1715–1804 · French botanist
CA
Charles Alexandre de Calonne1734–1802 · French statesman and art collector (1734-1802); his collection was so…
CL
Charles-Louis Corbet1758–1808 · sculptor from France
EC
Eustache Charles d'Aoust1763–1794 · French military general
PF
Pierre François Joseph Durutte1767–1827 · French general
NF
Nicolas François Conroux1770–1813 · French general
EA
Eugène Antoine François Merlin1778–1854 · French politician and officer
Everyone born in Douai Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Douai has the 5th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 37,600 to 43,100 residents, by historic monuments.
Douai46
#5 of 41for monuments per resident (11 per 10,000). Most per resident: Arras, Paris 6e and Châlons-en-Champagne.
The median town of these has 6. 5 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Douai
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douai | 40,250 | 46 | 11 | — |
| Waziers | 7,266 | 4 | 1 | — |
| Cuincy | 6,467 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sin-le-Noble | 16,076 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Lambres-lez-Douai | 4,883 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Flers-en-Escrebieux | 5,424 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Courchelettes | 2,855 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Douai in brief
Douai’s oldest monument, Maison des Templiers, dite aussi Maison Notre-Dame, dates from the 12th century. All told, the list holds 46 historic monuments, 11 of them classé, including Ancien couvent des Chartreux. Hôtel de ville et beffroi is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For its size, it has more historic monuments than 88% of compared French towns.
Hôtel de ville et beffroi sits at the heart of it all, with 4 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. In 2025 the Mission Patrimoine picked Ancienne chapelle des Bénédictins anglais ou chapelle du Lycée Jean-Baptiste Corot as a monument in danger to save. Only 4 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: 9.5% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.
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 Douai
How many historic monuments are there in Douai?
The Culture ministry lists 46 historic monuments in Douai: 11 classé and 35 inscrit.
Which monuments in Douai are classé?
11, among them Maison des Templiers, dite aussi Maison Notre-Dame, Hôtel de ville et beffroi, Porte de Valenciennes ou Porte Vacqueresse, Ancien collège de la Compagnie de Jésus d'Anchin, Ancien couvent des Chartreux and Ancien Hôtel-Dieu.
How old are the monuments of Douai?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 12th century.
When were monuments in Douai first protected?
The first in 1862, the latest in 2024.
How old are the homes in Douai?
9.5% 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.