ClasséChapel · protected 1979Chapelle Saint-Michel (ancienne)Photo: Guerinf · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Hôtel d'Albertas, dit aussi d'Anne d'Autriche · Photo: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.016historic monuments
History of Apt · Monuments historiques
16 historic monuments, 5 classé
For every 10,000 residents Apt counts 16 monuments, more per resident than 93% of compared French towns, against 2.5 in the median compared French town. Apt’s oldest monuments date from the 11th century. 16 of Apt’s monuments are in our photos.
Monuments historiques
16
16 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
5
the highest protection
Inscrit
11
the second level
Oldest part
11th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
14%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Apt in 16 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Chapelle Saint-Michel (ancienne)Classé
Cathédrale Sainte-Anne (ancienne)Classé
Faïencerie Esbérard (ancienne)Classé
Chapelle Sainte-CatherineClassé
Ancien couvent des CarmesInscrit+11See 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 Apt’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Cathédrale Sainte-Anne (ancienne)
3 of 5classé monuments stand within 400 m of Cathédrale Sainte-Anne (ancienne), with 10 of the town’s 16 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
16 monuments by protection
5 Classé11 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. 1 monument has no point on the map.
Classé
5 classé monuments in Apt
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 5 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
ClasséTown house · protected 1991Hôtel d'Albertas, dit aussi d'Anne d'AutrichePhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséIndustrial building · protected 1989Faïencerie Esbérard (ancienne)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséCathedral · protected 1846Cathédrale Sainte-Anne (ancienne)Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
11 inscrit monuments in Apt
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritAbbey · protected 2002Ancienne abbaye Saint-Pierre-des-Tourettes, au vieux château des TourettesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Unknown 1930s · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
InscritChapel · protected 1972Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Clairmont (vestiges)Photo: Unknown 1930s · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
InscritConvent · protected 2011Ancien couvent des CarmesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown walls · protected 1927Remparts (anciens)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
InscritChapel · protected 1996Ancienne chapelle des Pénitents blancsPhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
InscritTown gate · protected 1930Porte de SaignonPhoto: fr:User:Patrice Icard · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritHospital · protected 1989Hôpital (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritBishop’s palace · protected 1927Palais épiscopal (ancien)Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
InscritTown house · protected 2025Ancien hôtel de Dème et les vestiges du théâtre antique qu’il renfermePhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
What’s protected
Most of Apt’s monuments are churches and religious buildings
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Religious buildings8
Houses & homes3
Public & civic2
Military & fortified1
Industrial1
Religious buildings: 8 of 16 monuments (50%).
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 Apt’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.5
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution8
19th century 1801–19001
20th century and later since 19010
5 of 14 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Ancienne abbaye Saint-Pierre-des-Tourettes, au vieux château des Tourettes (11th & 12th c.). 2 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
Apt’s list has grown since 1846
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1846: Cathédrale Sainte-Anne (ancienne). 3 were protected in 1927 alone. 3 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
14% of homes in Apt were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
14%
Before 1919
5.3%
1919–45
30%
1946–70
34%
1971–90
11%
1991–2005
7%
2006 on
AptMedian compared French town
14% 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 (34%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
15 people born in Apt before 1900
Their lives on one line.
Annibal de Lortigue
Charles-François Clément
Jean-Joseph Rive
Christophe-Cortasse de Sablonet
Jacques Bernard d'Anselme
Joseph Aude
Elzéar Pin
Camille Richard
Victor Lieutaud
Jules Gaillard
Eugène Reboulin
Isidore Méritan
Léon Sagy
Émile Laure
Eugène Baudouin
155016001650170017501800185019001950
JJ
Jean-Joseph Rive1730–1791 · French librarian
JB
Jacques Bernard d'Anselme1740–1814 · French general, notable as the first commander of the Army of the Var
JA
Joseph Aude1755–1841 · French playwright and poet
ÉL
Émile Laure1881–1957 · French World War II general
AL
Annibal de Lortigue1572–1630 · French poet
CF
Charles-François Clément1719–1799 · French composer
CC
Christophe-Cortasse de Sablonet1736–1793 · French general
EP
Elzéar Pin1813–1883 · French politician
Everyone born in Apt Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Apt has the 3rd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 10,000 to 10,300 residents, by historic monuments.
Apt16
#3 of 41for monuments per resident (16 per 10,000). Most per resident: Ploërmel, Parthenay and Apt.
The median town of these has 1. 13 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Apt
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apt | 10,143 | 16 | 5 | — |
| Gargas | 3,035 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt | 3,004 | 8 | 1 | — |
| Lauris | 3,921 | 3 | 1 | — |
| Cadenet | 4,363 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Villelaure | 3,398 | 1 | 1 | — |
| La Roque-d'Anthéron Bouches-du-Rhône | 5,459 | 3 | 2 | — |
In brief
Apt in brief
Few towns are as rich in historic monuments as Apt: per resident it has more than 93% of compared French towns. All told, the list holds 16 historic monuments, 5 of them classé, including Hôtel d'Albertas, dit aussi d'Anne d'Autriche. Its housing is old: 14% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Only 2 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments.
Most entries on the list, 50%, are churches and religious buildings. Of the 14 with a date, 8 come from the 16th to 18th centuries. The oldest is Ancienne abbaye Saint-Pierre-des-Tourettes, au vieux château des Tourettes, from the 11th century.
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 Apt
How many historic monuments are there in Apt?
The Culture ministry lists 16 historic monuments in Apt: 5 classé and 11 inscrit.
Which monuments in Apt are classé?
5, among them Chapelle Saint-Michel (ancienne), Chapelle Sainte-Catherine, Hôtel d'Albertas, dit aussi d'Anne d'Autriche, Faïencerie Esbérard (ancienne) and Cathédrale Sainte-Anne (ancienne).
How old are the monuments of Apt?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 11th century.
When were monuments in Apt first protected?
The first in 1846, the latest in 2025.
How old are the homes in Apt?
14% 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 October 30, 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.