ClasséBridge · protected 1987Pont Saint-Laurent, sur la SaônePhoto: Benjamin Smith · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Pont Saint-Laurent, sur la Saône · Photo: Benjamin Smith · CC BY-SA 4.027historic monuments
History of Mâcon · Monuments historiques
27 historic monuments, the oldest from Antiquity
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 2021. The Culture ministry lists 27 historic monuments in Mâcon: 6 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 20 inscrit (the second level). 1 has no protection level on the list. That’s 7.7 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 80% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. We have photos of 25 of them.
Monuments historiques
27
7.7 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
6
the highest protection
Inscrit
20
the second level
Oldest part
Antiquity
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
8.5%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Mâcon in 25 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Hôtel SenecéClassé
Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (nouvelle église Saint-Vincent)Classé
Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (ancienne)Classé
Immeuble dit La maison de BoisClassé
Hospice de la CharitéClassé+20See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
How old
How old Mâcon’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.1
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.5
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution11
19th century 1801–19001
20th century and later since 19011
6 of 19 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Maison dite " du Bailli " et tour gallo-romaine contiguë (15th & 16th c.). 8 monuments have no date on the list.
Map
Where Mâcon’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritLevel not givenWithin 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (ancienne)
5 of 6classé monuments stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (ancienne), with 22 of the town’s 27 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
27 monuments by protection
6 Classé20 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.
Classé
6 classé monuments in Mâcon
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 2 of the 6 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséCathedral · protected 1862Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (ancienne)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséBuilding · protected 1920Immeuble dit La maison de BoisPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Benjamin Smith · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
ClasséChurch · protected 1994Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (nouvelle église Saint-Vincent)Photo: Benjamin Smith · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
21 inscrit monuments in Mâcon
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 20, A to Z
Ancienne église Saint-ClémentCouvent des Cordeliers (ancien) ou ancienne gendarmerieCouvent des Ursulines (ancien)Église Saint-PierreGrand LycéeHôtel de LamartineHôtel de Rossan de DavayéHôtel de villeHôtel DieuHôtel VanteyMaison dite " du Bailli " et tour gallo-romaine contiguëMaison, 10 rue CarnotMaison, 10 rue SigorgneMaison, 21 rue CarnotMaison, 30 rue Philibert-LaguicheMaison, rue de VeyleMaison, rue Saint-NizierMonument aux mortsPont Saint-Laurent, sur la SaôneVilla Palacios
7 more, named only by their kind
7 more are named in the list only by their kind: 6 houses (maisons) and 1 other, most from the 16th century. The 6 with an address are in the list above, by it.
12th c.1
16th c.2
18th c.2
undated2
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Mâcon
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes12
Religious buildings7
Public & civic4
Tombs & cemeteries1
Bridges & engineering1
Archaeological sites1
Houses & homes: 12 of 27 monuments (44%). 7 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.
Protected area
Mâcon has had a protected historic area since 2021
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR27-75 | – September 24, 2021 | – |
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.
The list gives no boundaries, so the map can’t show the area.
When protected
Mâcon’s list has grown since 1862
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1862: Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (ancienne). 4 were protected in 1929 alone. 5 have been added since 2011.
Born before 1900
48 people born in Mâcon before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Guillaume Perrier
Antoine Bauderon de Sénecé
Pierre Desvignes de Davayé
Florent-Alexandre-Melchior de La Baume
Jean-Baptiste Blampoix
Jean-Baptiste Debrun
Jeanne Marie de la Balmondière
Claude Roberjot
Étienne Rubat
Philibert Antoine Polissard
Claude-Philibert Barthelot de Rambuteau
Claude-Louis Mathieu
Alphonse de Lamartine
Clémence Robert
Jeanne Rongier
Hippolyte Petitjean
Charles Lutaud
Alfred Lacroix
Georges Lecomte
Gabriel Piguet
16001650170017501800185019001950
CP
Claude-Philibert Barthelot de Rambuteau1781–1869 · Count of France
CL
Claude-Louis Mathieu1783–1875 · French astronomer
AL
Alphonse de Lamartine1790–1869 · French author, poet and statesman
CR
Clémence Robert1797–1872 · 19th century French writer
JR
Jeanne Rongier1852–1929 · painter from France
HP
Hippolyte Petitjean1854–1929 · painter
CL
Charles Lutaud1855–1921 · French official
AL
Alfred Lacroix1863–1948 · French mineralogist and geologist
Everyone born in Mâcon Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Mâcon has the 4th most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 32,900 to 37,600 residents, by historic monuments.
Mâcon27
#4 of 41for monuments per resident (7.7 per 10,000). Most per resident: Paris 8e, Nevers and Auxerre.
The median town of these has 4. 5 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Mâcon
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mâcon | 35,177 | 27 | 6 | Yes |
| Charnay-lès-Mâcon | 8,227 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Replonges Ain | 3,956 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Feillens Ain | 3,411 | 1 | 1 | — |
| Crêches-sur-Saône | 3,198 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Bâgé-Dommartin Ain | 4,050 | 1 | 0 | — |
| La Chapelle-de-Guinchay | 4,018 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Mâcon in brief
Mâcon’s oldest monument, Maison dite " du Bailli " et tour gallo-romaine contiguë, dates from Antiquity. In all there are 27 historic monuments, 6 of them classé, including Pont Saint-Laurent, sur la Saône. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 80% of compared French towns. In 2023 the Mission Patrimoine picked Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (ancienne) as a monument in danger to save.
Only 3 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Part of it has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2021. Of the 19 with a date, 11 come from the 16th to 18th centuries. Beyond that, 8.5% 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 Mâcon
How many historic monuments are there in Mâcon?
The Culture ministry lists 27 historic monuments in Mâcon: 6 classé and 20 inscrit.
Which monuments in Mâcon are classé?
6, among them Pont Saint-Laurent, sur la Saône, Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (ancienne), Immeuble dit La maison de Bois, Hospice de la Charité, Hôtel Senecé and Cathédrale Saint-Vincent (nouvelle église Saint-Vincent).
How old are the monuments of Mâcon?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.
Is Mâcon a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Mâcon has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 2021.
When were monuments in Mâcon first protected?
The first in 1862, the latest in 2025.
How old are the homes in Mâcon?
8.5% 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 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.