ClasséHouse · protected 1913Maison romanePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Hôtel des Monnaies · Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.029historic monuments
History of Cluny · Monuments historiques
A secteur sauvegardé since 1994, and 29 historic monuments
The Culture ministry lists 29 historic monuments in Cluny: 12 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 16 inscrit (the second level). 1 has no protection level on the list. That’s 59 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than almost every compared French town; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 10th century. We have photos of 29 of them.
Monuments historiques
29
59 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
12
the highest protection
Inscrit
16
the second level
Oldest part
10th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
25%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Cluny in 29 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Église Notre-DameClassé
Fortifications (restes)Classé
Maison romaneClassé
Ancienne abbayeClassé
Maison romane, dite maison DescoursClassé+24See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Protected area
Cluny has had a protected historic area since 1994
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR27-57 | Secteur sauvegardé September 22, 1994 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) July 21, 2011 |
A site patrimonial remarquable protects a whole area rather than one building: inside it, building work follows the area’s own plan and needs the agreement of the architecte des Bâtiments de France. A PSMV (plan de sauvegarde et de mise en valeur) is the strictest plan: it covers every building, inside as well as out.
The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.
Map
Where Cluny’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Ancienne abbaye
11 of 12classé monuments stand within 400 m of Ancienne abbaye, with 24 of the town’s 29 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
29 monuments by protection
12 Classé16 Inscrit1 Level not given
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
12 classé monuments in Cluny
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 8 of the 12 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséHouse · protected 1926Maison romanePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Jan Sokol · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1927Maison romanePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Jan Sokol · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1918Maison romane, dite maison DescoursPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
ClasséAbbey · protected 1862Ancienne abbayePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Ntametrine · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHospital · protected 2001Hôpital-hospice, ancien Hôtel-DieuPart of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
ClasséTown walls · protected 1918Fortifications (restes)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: MOSSOT · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1912Maison romanePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1931Maison, 8 rue de la BarrePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
17 inscrit monuments in Cluny
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared. 1 of them has no protection level on the list.
All 17, A to Z
Ancienne chapelle Saint-OdilonCroix de carrefourFerme Sainte-Odile près de la porte Sainte-OdileFontaine des SerpentsFontaine, rue d'AvrilImmeuble, 23 rue de la RépubliqueImmeuble, 24 rue d'AvrilImmeuble, 38 rue de la ChanoiseImmeuble, 5 rue du FresneImmeuble, 9 rue Saint-MayeulImmeuble, rue du Merle (anciennement 11 rue Colonel-Lechère)Maison des EchevinsMaison du PontetMaison romane, et maison gothiqueMaison, 3 rue de la BarreMaison, 9 rue du MerlePrieuré Saint-Mayeul (restes de l'ancien)
9 more, named only by their kind
9 more are named in the list only by their kind: 6 buildings (immeubles), 2 houses (maisons) and 1 other. The 9 with an address are in the list above, by it.
12th c.2
18th c.1
undated6
What’s protected
Most of Cluny’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes18
Religious buildings6
Public & civic3
Military & fortified1
Houses & homes: 18 of 29 monuments (62%). 6 are religious buildings, 3 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 Cluny’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.13
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution6
19th century 1801–19000
20th century and later since 19010
13 of 19 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Maison romane (Middle Ages). 10 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
8 of Cluny’s monuments were protected in 1941
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1941 · 8
186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1862: Ancienne abbaye and Église Notre-Dame. 8 were protected in 1941 alone. 1 has been added since 2011.
Age of homes
25% of homes in Cluny were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
25%
Before 1919
7.8%
1919–45
12%
1946–70
25%
1971–90
16%
1991–2005
14%
2006 on
ClunyMedian compared French town
25% 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
8 people born in Cluny before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
Jean-Baptiste Renaud
Pierre Passot
Barthélémy Forest
Amédée Bruys
Joseph Caraud
Julien Simyan
Antoine Léchères
175017751800182518501875190019251950
PP
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon1758–1823 · French painter
JB
Jean-Baptiste Renaud1806–1888 · French politician
PP
Pierre Passot1806–1885 · French military personnel
BF
Barthélémy Forest1813–1895 · French politician
AB
Amédée Bruys1817–1878 · French politician
JC
Joseph Caraud1821–1905 · French painter and draftsman
JS
Julien Simyan1850–1926 · French politician
AL
Antoine Léchères1860–1916 · French photographer
Everyone born in Cluny Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Cluny has the most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 4,900 to 5,000 residents, by historic monuments.
Cluny29
#1 of 41for monuments per resident (59 per 10,000). Most per resident: Cluny, La Souterraine and Bégard.
The median town of these has 1. 13 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Cluny
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cluny | 4,942 | 29 | 12 | Yes |
| Charnay-lès-Mâcon | 8,227 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Mâcon | 35,177 | 27 | 6 | Yes |
| Feillens Ain | 3,411 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Replonges Ain | 3,956 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Crêches-sur-Saône | 3,198 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Tournus | 5,701 | 22 | 9 | Yes |
In brief
Cluny in brief
Few towns are as rich in historic monuments as Cluny: per resident it has more than 99% of compared French towns. All told, the list holds 29 historic monuments, 12 of them classé, including Hôtel des Monnaies. Its old center has been a secteur sauvegardé since 1994. No town its size has more historic monuments: it leads the 41 nearest in population.
Its housing is old: 25% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Ancienne abbaye sits at the heart of it all, with 11 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. Of the whole list, 62% are houses and homes.
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 Cluny
How many historic monuments are there in Cluny?
The Culture ministry lists 29 historic monuments in Cluny: 12 classé and 16 inscrit.
Which monuments in Cluny are classé?
12, among them Maison romane, Maison romane, Maison romane, Maison romane, dite maison Descours, Église Notre-Dame and Hôtel des Monnaies.
How old are the monuments of Cluny?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 10th century.
Is Cluny a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Cluny has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1994.
When were monuments in Cluny first protected?
The first in 1862, the latest in 2017.
How old are the homes in Cluny?
25% 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.