Château des Ducs de Savoie (ancien) · Photo: Patrick · CC BY-SA 2.0

25historic monuments

History of Chambéry · Monuments historiques

25 historic monuments and a protected historic area since 2013

The Culture ministry lists 25 historic monuments in Chambéry: 12 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 13 inscrit (the second level). That’s 4.2 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 65% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 13th century. We have photos of 24 of them.

12classé 2013protected area 13th c.oldest part 1881first protected

Monuments historiques

4.2 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5

Classé

the highest protection

Inscrit

the second level

Oldest part

13th c.

of any listed monument

Homes before 1919

7.1%

median compared town 7.4%

In pictures

Chambéry in 24 photos

Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.

Église Notre-DameClassé

Cathédrale Saint-François de SalesClassé

Lycée de garçonsClassé

Hôtel-Dieu (ancien)Classé

Archevêché (ancien)Classé+19See all photos

Photos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.

Protected area

Chambéry has 2 protected historic areas

Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.

Area	Created as	Plan in force
SPR84-141	ZPPAUP April 3, 2013	AVAP (heritage area rules) October 26, 2017
SPR84-142	Secteur sauvegardé May 8, 1969	PSMV (safeguarding plan) May 9, 1990

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 Chambéry’s monuments stand

Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.

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. 5 monuments have no point on the map.

Classé

12 classé monuments in Chambéry

Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 7 of the 12 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.

Château · protected 1881Château des Ducs de Savoie (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Patrick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1996Église Notre-DamePhoto: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Town house · protected 1984Hôtel de MontjoiePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

School · protected 1950Lycée de garçonsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

House · protected 1991Domaine de VidonnePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Fountain · protected 1982Fontaine des EléphantsPhoto: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Religious building · protected 1911Archevêché (ancien)Photo: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Cathedral · protected 1906Cathédrale Saint-François de SalesPhoto: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Church · protected 1900Église de LemencPart of the building is protectedPhoto: francois73 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Hospital · protected 1900Hôtel-Dieu (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

House · protected 1905Maison des CharmettesPhoto: Chris Bertram · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Theater · protected 1984Théâtre municipalPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Inscrit

13 inscrit monuments in Chambéry

Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.

All 13, A to Z

Château de Buisson Rond Château de Caramagne Couvent de la Visitation, de Lemenc Croix des Brigands Fontaine des deux Bourneaux Hôtel de Chateauneuf Hôtel des Douanes Hôtel des Marches (ancien)Hôtel du Bourget (ancien)Immeuble, 64, 66 place Saint-Léger Palais de Justice Pâtisserie "le fidèle berger"Remise ferroviaire dite rotonde SNCF

1 more, named only by its kind

One more is named in the list only by its kind: 1 building (immeuble), most from the 15th century. The one with an address is in the list above, by it.

See all 25 on the map

What’s protected

Houses and homes are the largest group in Chambéry

Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.

Houses & homes10

Religious buildings6

Public & civic2

Bridges & engineering2

Shops & trade1

Houses & homes: 10 of 25 monuments (40%). 6 are religious buildings, 4 of them classé.

Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 4 have no domain on the list.

How old

How old Chambéry’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 1801–19004

20th century and later since 19011

3 of 13 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Château des Ducs de Savoie (ancien) (13th–17th c.). 12 monuments have no date on the list.

When protected

Chambéry’s list has grown since 1881

Monuments by the year they were first protected.

18801900192019401960198020002020

First protected, in 1881: Château des Ducs de Savoie (ancien). 4 were protected in 1984 alone. None has been added since 2011.

Born before 1900

71 people born in Chambéry before 1900

The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.

Boniface

Amédée VI de Savoie

Amédée VIII de Savoie

Philippe II de Savoie

Emmanuel-Philibert de Savoie

Claude François Milliet Dechales

Alexandre Lambert de Soyrier

Amédée-François Frézier

Joseph Daquin

François Amédée Doppet

Joseph de Maistre

Xavier de Maistre

Adèle de Bellegarde

Rodolphe de Maistre

Amédée de Pérusse des Cars

Charles Henri Pellegrini

Louis-Frédéric Ménabréa

Camille Polonceau

Simon-Antoine Pacoret de Saint-Bon

Victor Arminjon

120013501500165018001950

Boniface1244–1263 · Count of Savoy

Amédée VI de Savoie1334–1383 · Count of Savoy 1343-1383

Amédée VIII de Savoie1383–1451 · antipope 1439 to 1449, count of Savoy

Philippe II de Savoie1438–1497 · duke of Savoy

Emmanuel-Philibert de Savoie1528–1580 · Duke of Savoy from 1553 to 1580

Claude François Milliet Dechales1621–1678 · French mathematician

Alexandre Lambert de Soyrier1632–1706 · bishop

Amédée-François Frézier1682–1773 · French scientist, spy and explorer

Everyone born in Chambéry Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.

Neighbors

Historic monuments in the towns around Chambéry

Town	Residents	Monuments	Classé	Protected area
Chambéry	59,964	25	12	Yes
Bassens	5,175	1	0	—
Cognin	6,954	1	0	—
Jacob-Bellecombette	4,499	0	0	—
Barberaz	5,306	0	0	—
Saint-Alban-Leysse	6,734	1	0	—
La Ravoire	9,332	0	0	—

In brief

Chambéry in brief

Chambéry has 25 historic monuments, 12 of them classé, including Château des Ducs de Savoie (ancien). Cathédrale Saint-François de Sales sits at the heart of it all, with 5 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. Maison des Charmettes is one of the Maisons des Illustres, the homes of people who left their mark on France. Parts of it lie in 2 sites patrimoniaux remarquables, the first protected in 2013.

Of the 71 people born here before 1900, the best known include Boniface (1244), Amédée VI de Savoie (1334) and Amédée VIII de Savoie (1383). The oldest is Château des Ducs de Savoie (ancien), from the 13th century. Beyond that, it has 25 historic monuments, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 8); per resident it sits near the middle of compared French towns; and 7.1% 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 Chambéry

How many historic monuments are there in Chambéry?

The Culture ministry lists 25 historic monuments in Chambéry: 12 classé and 13 inscrit.

Which monuments in Chambéry are classé?

12, among them Château des Ducs de Savoie (ancien), Église Notre-Dame, Hôtel de Montjoie, Lycée de garçons, Domaine de Vidonne and Fontaine des Eléphants.

How old are the monuments of Chambéry?

The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 13th century.

Is Chambéry a protected historic area?

Yes: Chambéry has 2 sites patrimoniaux remarquables, the first since 2013.

When were monuments in Chambéry first protected?

The first in 1881, the latest in 2004.

How old are the homes in Chambéry?

7.1% 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.