ClasséLighthouse · protected 1995Tour du LeughenaerPhoto: Pierre André Leclercq · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Église Saint-Éloi · Photo: Paul Hermans · CC BY-SA 3.031historic monuments
History of Dunkerque · Monuments historiques
31 historic monuments, 4 classé
Dunkerque has 3.6 monuments for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 61% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest monuments in Dunkerque date from the 16th century. We have photos of 12 of Dunkerque’s monuments.
Monuments historiques
31
3.6 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
4
the highest protection
Inscrit
27
the second level
Oldest part
16th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
4.2%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Dunkerque in 12 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Tour du LeughenaerClassé
Phare du RisbanClassé
Hôtel de l'ArmateurInscrit
MaisonInscrit
Etablissement de bains de style mauresqueInscrit+7See 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 Dunkerque’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscrit
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
31 monuments by protection
4 Classé27 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
4 classé monuments in Dunkerque
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
ClasséInscrit
27 inscrit monuments in Dunkerque
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 27, A to Z
Bâtiment de la Subdivision des Phares et BalisesEtablissement de bains de style mauresqueFeu Saint-Pol, situé jetée de Saint-PolFormes de Radoub n°3 et n°5 et usine de pompage, ou usine des formesHôpital civil de Dunkerque à RosendaelHôtel de l'ArmateurHôtel de villeMaison dite Les CicognesMaison dite Les CubesMaison dite Ma CoquilleMaison, 120 rue Martin-Luther-KingMaison, 14 rue David-d'AngersMaison, 20, 22 rue du SudMaison, 28 rue FaulconnierMaison, 28 rue NationaleMaison, 38 rue des ArbresMaison, 51 rue Gustave-LemaireMaison, 57 rue Martin-Luther-KingMaison, 63 rue Martin-Luther-KingMonument à la mémoire des Fusiliers marinsMonument de la Fondation, à RosendaëlPropriété (vestiges de L'excentric Moulins)Villa Les DisquesVilla les SouriresVilla Moscovite ou Castel JolyVilla MyosotisVilla Quo Vadis
9 more, named only by their kind
9 more are named in the list only by their kind: 9 houses (maisons), most from the 18th century. The 9 with an address are in the list above, by it.
18th c.4
19th c.1
20th c.4
What’s protected
Most of Dunkerque’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes19
Bridges & engineering6
Public & civic2
Tombs & cemeteries2
Religious buildings1
Houses & homes: 19 of 31 monuments (61%). 1 is a religious building, 1 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
How old Dunkerque’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.0
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution7
19th century 1801–19008
20th century and later since 190114
The oldest dated: Tour du Leughenaer (16th c.). 2 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
14 of Dunkerque’s monuments were protected in 1988
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1988 · 14
1900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1916: Église Saint-Éloi. 14 were protected in 1988 alone. 4 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
4.2% of homes in Dunkerque were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
4.2%
Before 1919
10%
1919–45
35%
1946–70
33%
1971–90
9.2%
1991–2005
7.8%
2006 on
DunkerqueMedian compared French town
4.2% 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 (35%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
45 people born in Dunkerque before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Nicolas Baeteman
Nicolas Truit
Jean-Jacques Rutledge
Ferdinand Alphonse Honoré de Digoine du Palais de Mailly
Laurent Coppens
Louis Marie Debaecque
Jean-Marie Joseph Emmery
Jean-Marie Cliquet de Fontenay
Jean-Jacques Fockedey
Louis Joseph Auguste Saint-Laurent
Guillaume O'Meara
Pierre Dénys de Montfort
Paul André Louis Lemaire
Jean Louis Bonaventure de Kenny
Étienne Dupouy
Louis Marie Joseph Thévenet
Jean Coffyn-Spyns
Benjamin Morel
Hyacinthe-Benjamin Gerbidon
Auguste Angellier
1650170017501800185019001950
PD
Pierre Dénys de Montfort1766–1821 · French zoologist
AA
Auguste Angellier1848–1911 · French educator
NB
Nicolas Baeteman1659–1720 · French privateer
NT
Nicolas Truit1737–1785 · French painter
JJ
Jean-Jacques Rutledge1743–1794 · French–Irish Jacobite writer and publicist
FA
Ferdinand Alphonse Honoré de Digoine du Palais de Mailly1750–1832 · French politician
LC
Laurent Coppens1750–1834 · French politician
LM
Louis Marie Debaecque1750–1804 · French politician
Everyone born in Dunkerque Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Dunkerque
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunkerque | 86,263 | 31 | 4 | — |
| Coudekerque-Branche | 20,787 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Cappelle-la-Grande | 7,839 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Téteghem-Coudekerque-Village | 8,247 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Leffrinckoucke | 4,078 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Grande-Synthe | 20,239 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Bergues | 3,525 | 10 | 4 | — |
In brief
Dunkerque in brief
Dunkerque has 31 historic monuments, 4 of them classé. Église Saint-Éloi is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Of the whole list, 61% are houses and homes. Feu Saint-Pol, situé jetée de Saint-Pol carries the Architecture contemporaine remarquable label.
Of the 45 people born here before 1900, the best known include Pierre Dénys de Montfort (1766), Auguste Angellier (1848) and Nicolas Baeteman (1659). Its homes are mostly newer: 4.2% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. The oldest, Tour du Leughenaer, dates from the 16th century. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it has 31 historic monuments, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 6); and per resident it sits near the middle of compared French towns.
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 Dunkerque
How many historic monuments are there in Dunkerque?
The Culture ministry lists 31 historic monuments in Dunkerque: 4 classé and 27 inscrit.
Which monuments in Dunkerque are classé?
4, among them Tour du Leughenaer, Phare du Risban, Église Saint-Éloi and Ruines de la vieille écluse de Mardyck.
How old are the monuments of Dunkerque?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 16th century.
When were monuments in Dunkerque first protected?
The first in 1916, the latest in 2019.
How old are the homes in Dunkerque?
4.2% 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.