ClasséPriory · protected 1987Prieuré de la Magdeleine (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Ce fichier est l’œuvre de Gérard Choquin Merci de créditer : Gérard Choquin / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA J’apprécierai que vous me l’indiquiez par courriel ( gerardchoquin orange.fr ) si vous reprenez cette image en-dehors d'un projet Wikimédia. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Maison-forte de Corcelles (ancienne) · Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.07historic monuments
History of Charolles · Monuments historiques
7 historic monuments, more per resident than 97% of compared French towns
The Culture ministry lists 7 historic monuments in Charolles: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 6 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 14th century. We have photos of 5 of them.
Monuments historiques
7
25 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
1
the highest protection
Inscrit
6
the second level
Oldest part
14th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
21%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Charolles in 5 photos
Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Prieuré de la Magdeleine (ancien)Classé
Château de Charles-Le-Téméraire (ancien)Inscrit
Couvent des Ursulines (ancien)Inscrit
Tour à diamantInscrit+1See 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
Charolles has the 4th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 2,700 to 2,800 residents, by historic monuments.
Charolles7
#5 of 41for monuments per resident (25 per 10,000). Most per resident: Montignac-Lascaux, Saint-Aignan and Collioure.
The median town of these has 1. 10 of the 41 have none.
Map
Where Charolles’ 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.
7 monuments by protection
1 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
One classé monument in Charolles
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 1 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Inscrit
6 inscrit monuments in Charolles
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritChâteau · protected 1926Château de Charles-Le-Téméraire (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritFortified house · protected 1976Maison-forte de Corcelles (ancienne)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritConvent · protected 1948Couvent des Ursulines (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritFortified house · protected 1931Tour à diamantPhoto: Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Home · protected 2019Hôtel de la Sous-Préfecture
Château · protected 2005Château de CorcellesPart of the building is protected
How old
How old Charolles’ 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 Revolution2
19th century 1801–19000
20th century and later since 19011
3 of 6 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Château de Charles-Le-Téméraire (ancien) (14th & 15th c.). 1 monument has no date on the list.
Age of homes
21% of homes in Charolles were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
21%
Before 1919
11%
1919–45
21%
1946–70
25%
1971–90
8.1%
1991–2005
14%
2006 on
CharollesMedian compared French town
21% 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 (25%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
19 people born in Charolles before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Claude de la Magdelaine
Jean-Marie Gaspard Gauvilliers
Gilbert Prudon
Jean-Pierre Gayet
Jean-François Bayard
Louis-Agathe Berthaud
André Berthier
François Jandeau
François Dulac
Louis Jacolliot
Henry Havard
Jean Bouveri
Paul Gerbe
Armand Naudin
Paul Darbois
Charles Griveaud
Charles Bouissoud
Joseph Archer
René Davoine
16001650170017501800185019001950
JF
Jean-François Bayard1796–1853 · French playwright
LJ
Louis Jacolliot1837–1890 · French writer and lawyer
CM
Claude de la Magdelaine1601–1652 · French bishop
JM
Jean-Marie Gaspard Gauvilliers1755–1823 · French general
GP
Gilbert Prudon1759–1811 · French politician
JP
Jean-Pierre Gayet1760–1825 · French politician
LA
Louis-Agathe Berthaud1810–1843 · French writer, poet and journalist
AB
André Berthier1811–1873 · French architect
Everyone born in Charolles Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Charolles
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charolles | 2,772 | 7 | 1 | — |
| Paray-le-Monial | 9,291 | 7 | 4 | — |
| Digoin | 7,353 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Vallier | 8,508 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Gueugnon | 6,528 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Sanvignes-les-Mines | 4,235 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Chauffailles | 3,638 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Charolles in brief
Few towns are as rich in historic monuments as Charolles: per resident it has more than 97% of compared French towns. In all there are 7 historic monuments, 1 of them classé, including Prieuré de la Magdeleine (ancien). Its housing is old: 21% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Only 3 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments.
Of the 6 with a date, 3 come from the Middle Ages. The oldest is Château de Charles-Le-Téméraire (ancien), from the 14th century. Château de Corcelles carries the Architecture contemporaine remarquable label. The rest is about typical: most entries are houses and homes; and the list grew between 1926 and 2019.
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 Charolles
How many historic monuments are there in Charolles?
The Culture ministry lists 7 historic monuments in Charolles: 1 classé and 6 inscrit.
Which monuments in Charolles are classé?
One: Prieuré de la Magdeleine (ancien).
How old are the monuments of Charolles?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 14th century.
When were monuments in Charolles first protected?
The first in 1926, the latest in 2019.
How old are the homes in Charolles?
21% 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.