ClasséAbbey · protected 1921Abbaye de Sénanque (ancienne)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Greudin · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Abbaye de Sénanque (ancienne) · Photo: Greudin · Public domain8historic monuments
History of Gordes · Monuments historiques
8 historic monuments, 4 classé
Gordes’s oldest monuments date from the 12th century. For every 10,000 residents Gordes counts 48 monuments, against 2.5 in the median compared French town. 7 of Gordes’s monuments are in our photos.
Monuments historiques
8
48 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
4
the highest protection
Inscrit
4
the second level
Oldest part
12th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
22%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Gordes in 7 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Village de BoriesClassé
ChâteauClassé
Moulin des BouillonsClassé
Maison LhoteInscrit
Hôtel Saint-Firmin, ancien hôtel Gaudin de LancierInscrit+2See 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 Gordes’ 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.
8 monuments by protection
4 Classé4 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
4 classé monuments in Gordes
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 3 of the 4 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséPublic building · protected 1977Village de BoriesPhoto: Jean-Marc Rosier · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséIndustrial building · protected 1984Moulin des BouillonsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséChâteau · protected 1931ChâteauPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Jean-Marc Rosier ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
4 inscrit monuments in Gordes
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
InscritTown house · protected 1998Hôtel Saint-Firmin, ancien hôtel Gaudin de LancierPhoto: Jean-Marc Rosier http://www.cjrosier.com + http://www.gordes-immobilier.com ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
InscritHouse · protected 1949Maison LhotePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Travail personnel · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Home · protected 2018Propriété Vasarely aux Devens
How old
How old Gordes’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.0
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.1
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution4
19th century 1801–19001
20th century and later since 19010
1 of 6 dated monuments has parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Abbaye de Sénanque (ancienne) (12th & 19th c.). 2 monuments have no date on the list.
Age of homes
22% of homes in Gordes were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
22%
Before 1919
5%
1919–45
11%
1946–70
32%
1971–90
20%
1991–2005
11%
2006 on
GordesMedian compared French town
22% 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 (32%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Gordes
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordes | 1,661 | 8 | 4 | — |
| Robion | 4,816 | 0 | 0 | — |
| L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue | 20,244 | 19 | 3 | Yes |
| Gargas | 3,035 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt | 3,004 | 8 | 1 | — |
| Cavaillon | 25,636 | 14 | 9 | Yes |
| Cheval-Blanc | 4,362 | 0 | 0 | — |
In brief
Gordes in brief
Gordes’s oldest monument, Abbaye de Sénanque (ancienne), dates from the 12th century. All told, the list holds 8 historic monuments, 4 of them classé. Its housing is old: 22% of homes date from before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
In 2019 the Mission Patrimoine picked Abbaye de Sénanque (ancienne) as a monument in danger to save. Most of its dated monuments come from the 16th to 18th centuries: 4 of 6. Beyond that, most entries are houses and homes; Joseph Milon (1868) was born here before 1900; and the list grew between 1921 and 2024.
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 Gordes
How many historic monuments are there in Gordes?
The Culture ministry lists 8 historic monuments in Gordes: 4 classé and 4 inscrit.
Which monuments in Gordes are classé?
4, among them Abbaye de Sénanque (ancienne), Village de Bories and Moulin des Bouillons.
How old are the monuments of Gordes?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 12th century.
When were monuments in Gordes first protected?
The first in 1921, the latest in 2024.
How old are the homes in Gordes?
22% 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 4, 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.