ClasséChurch · protected 1840Église Saint-AustremoinePhoto: Jochen Jahnke · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Église Saint-Austremoine · Photo: Jochen Jahnke · CC BY-SA 3.012historic monuments
History of Issoire · Monuments historiques
12 historic monuments, 2 classé
Issoire has 7.9 monuments for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 81% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest monuments in Issoire date from the 10th century. We have photos of 10 of Issoire’s monuments.
Monuments historiques
12
7.9 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
2
the highest protection
Inscrit
10
the second level
Oldest part
10th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
6.8%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Issoire in 10 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Ancienne abbaye bénédictineClassé
MaisonInscrit
Pont suspendu sur l'AllierInscrit
ImmeubleInscrit
Ancien hôtel Pellet ou hôtel BohierInscrit+5See 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 Issoire’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.
12 monuments by protection
2 Classé10 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
2 classé monuments in Issoire
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 2 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséAbbey · protected 1960Ancienne abbaye bénédictinePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Sylenius · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
10 inscrit monuments in Issoire
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
Inscrit
InscritTown house · protected 1965Ancien hôtel Pellet ou hôtel BohierPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Cruccone · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
InscritTown house · protected 1983Hôtel CharrierPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Sebleouf · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
Inscrit
InscritHouse · protected 1981Maison, place de la RépubliquePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Cruccone · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritBuilding · protected 1981Immeuble, 41, 43 rue de la BerbizialePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Sylenius · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Industrial building · protected 2024Ancien pavillon « Direction-dessins » de l’usine AFC de la SCALPart of the building is protected
Monument · protected 2024Gymnase L’IssoiriennePart of the building is protected
What’s protected
Most of Issoire’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes6
Religious buildings2
Bridges & engineering1
Industrial1
Shops & trade1
Houses & homes: 6 of 12 monuments (50%). 2 are religious buildings, 2 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 Issoire’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.3
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution5
19th century 1801–19002
20th century and later since 19010
3 of 10 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Église Saint-Austremoine (Middle Ages). 2 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
Issoire’s list has grown since 1840
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1840: Église Saint-Austremoine. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 2 were protected in 1981 alone. 3 have been added since 2011.
Born before 1900
15 people born in Issoire before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Antoine Duprat
Jean Bohier
Guillaume Duprat
Jean-Baptiste Bres
Antoine Bayet
Joseph-Henri Girot de Langlade
Agénor Altaroche
Marcelin Laurent Marie Burin des Roziers
Auguste Pomel
Luc Christophle
Victoire Tinayre
Élisabeth Dodel-Faure
François Albert-Buisson
Gabriel Bounoure
Pierre Pascal
1500165018001950
AD
Antoine Duprat1463–1535 · Catholic cardinal
GD
Guillaume Duprat1507–1560 · French bishop
AA
Agénor Altaroche1811–1884 · French chansonnier, politician, journalist and poet
AP
Auguste Pomel1821–1898 · French paleontologist
VT
Victoire Tinayre1831–1895 · French educator and political radical
FA
François Albert-Buisson1881–1961 · French entrepreneur, industrial, consular magistrate, economist, poli…
JB
Jean Bohier1464–1512 · Roman Catholic bishop
JB
Jean-Baptiste Bres1743–1811 · French politician
Everyone born in Issoire Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Issoire has the 9th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 14,700 to 15,600 residents, by historic monuments.
Issoire12
#10 of 41for monuments per resident (7.9 per 10,000). Most per resident: Paris 1er, Dinan and Senlis.
The median town of these has 4. 5 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Issoire
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issoire | 15,115 | 12 | 2 | — |
| Vic-le-Comte | 5,396 | 6 | 2 | Yes |
| Brassac-les-Mines | 3,412 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Veyre-Monton | 3,721 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Les Martres-de-Veyre | 3,826 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Sainte-Florine Haute-Loire | 3,283 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Orcet | 2,897 | 2 | 1 | — |
In brief
Issoire in brief
Église Saint-Austremoine, from the 10th century, is the oldest monument in Issoire. All told, the list holds 12 historic monuments, 2 of them classé, including Église Saint-Austremoine. For its size, it has more historic monuments than 81% of compared French towns. Only 8 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments.
Most entries on the list, 50%, are houses and homes. Most of its dated monuments come from the 16th to 18th centuries: 5 of 10. Antoine Duprat (1463), Guillaume Duprat (1507) and Agénor Altaroche (1811) are among the 15 people born here before 1900. Beyond that, 6.8% 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 Issoire
How many historic monuments are there in Issoire?
The Culture ministry lists 12 historic monuments in Issoire: 2 classé and 10 inscrit.
Which monuments in Issoire are classé?
2, among them Église Saint-Austremoine and Ancienne abbaye bénédictine.
How old are the monuments of Issoire?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 10th century.
When were monuments in Issoire first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2024.
How old are the homes in Issoire?
6.8% 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 9, 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.