ClasséTown gate · protected 1913Porte Saint-GillesPhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Croix couverte ou croix de Boët · Photo: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.026historic monuments
History of Pernes-les-Fontaines · Monuments historiques
26 historic monuments, more per resident than 97% of compared French towns
A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) is on the ministry’s list; its rules are still being drawn up. The Culture ministry lists 26 historic monuments in Pernes-les-Fontaines: 8 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 18 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from the 12th century. We have photos of 24 of them.
Monuments historiques
26
25 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
8
the highest protection
Inscrit
18
the second level
Oldest part
12th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
13%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Pernes-les-Fontaines in 24 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Porte Notre-Dame, pont qui la précède ainsi que la chapelle et l'auvent couvertClassé
Ancien hôtel de Cheylus ou immeuble ValetteClassé
Église Notre-Dame-de-NazarethClassé
Hôtel de ville, ancien hôtel de Brancas-CheilusClassé
Fontaine du PélicanClassé+19See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Towns its size
Pernes-les-Fontaines has the most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 10,300 to 10,700 residents, by historic monuments.
Pernes-les-Fontaines26
#1 of 41for monuments per resident (25 per 10,000). Most per resident: Pernes-les-Fontaines, Villers-Cotterêts and Limoux.
The median town of these has 2. 10 of the 41 have none.
Map
Where Pernes-les-Fontaines’ monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Église Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth
8 of 8classé monuments stand within 400 m of Église Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth, with 23 of the town’s 26 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
26 monuments by protection
8 Classé18 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
8 classé monuments in Pernes-les-Fontaines
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 1 of the 8 is protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséTown house · protected 1993Ancien hôtel de Cheylus ou immeuble ValettePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown hall · protected 2009Hôtel de ville, ancien hôtel de Brancas-CheilusPhoto: Vi..Cult... · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséCross · protected 1961Croix couverte ou croix de BoëtPhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
ClasséTown gate · protected 1915Porte Notre-Dame, pont qui la précède ainsi que la chapelle et l'auvent couvertPhoto: Véronique PAGNIER · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséInscrit
18 inscrit monuments in Pernes-les-Fontaines
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 18, A to Z
Bain rituel juif ou miqveh, place de la JuiverieChapelle Notre-Dame-de-la-RoseChapelle Saint-Roch (ancienne)Église des Valayans, dite aussi Notre-Dame de l'Immaculée ConceptionFontaine de l'HôpitalFontaine de l'Hôtel de villeFontaine des AugustinsFontaine du GigotFontaine du Portail-NeufFontaine ReboulHôtel d'AnselmeHôtel de Jocas (ancien)Maison natale d'Esprit FléchierMonument commémoratif à Louis GiraudPorte de VilleneuveTour de l'Horloge, dit aussi ancien château des comtes de ToulouseTour dite GibertiTour du moulin de l'Ecole
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Pernes-les-Fontaines
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes7
Public & civic7
Religious buildings6
Military & fortified4
Tombs & cemeteries1
Houses & homes: 7 of 26 monuments (27%). 6 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.
How old
How old Pernes-les-Fontaines’ 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 Revolution7
19th century 1801–19001
20th century and later since 19011
3 of 12 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Tour du moulin de l'Ecole (12th c.). 14 monuments have no date on the list.
Protected area
A protected historic area is on its way in Pernes-les-Fontaines
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR93-51 | ZPPAUP March 8, 1995 | Still being drawn up |
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
11 of Pernes-les-Fontaines’ monuments were protected in 1928
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1928 · 11
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1840: Église Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 11 were protected in 1928 alone. 4 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
13% of homes in Pernes-les-Fontaines were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
13%
Before 1919
5.7%
1919–45
16%
1946–70
30%
1971–90
20%
1991–2005
15%
2006 on
Pernes-les-FontainesMedian compared French town
13% 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 (30%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
4 people born in Pernes-les-Fontaines before 1900
Their lives on one line.
François-Antoine Pomey
Hippolyte Louis Joseph Olivier de Gérente
Charles Giraud
Louis Giraud
16001650170017501800185019001950
CG
Charles Giraud1802–1881 · French lawyer and politician
FA
François-Antoine Pomey1618–1673 · French Jesuit and lexicographer
HL
Hippolyte Louis Joseph Olivier de Gérente1782–1856 · French politician
LG
Louis Giraud1805–1883 · French politician
Everyone born in Pernes-les-Fontaines Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Pernes-les-Fontaines
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pernes-les-Fontaines | 10,504 | 26 | 8 | Yes |
| Velleron | 3,168 | 2 | 0 | — |
| Monteux | 13,301 | 4 | 2 | — |
| Carpentras | 31,619 | 26 | 11 | Yes |
| Althen-des-Paluds | 2,960 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Mazan | 6,285 | 4 | 1 | — |
| L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue | 20,244 | 19 | 3 | Yes |
In brief
Pernes-les-Fontaines in brief
For its size, Pernes-les-Fontaines has more historic monuments than 97% of compared French towns. All told, the list holds 26 historic monuments, 8 of them classé, including Croix couverte ou croix de Boët. No town its size has more historic monuments: it leads the 41 nearest in population. Of its homes, 13% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Its classé monuments cluster together: 8 of them stand within 400 m of Église Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth. Of the 12 with a date, 7 come from the 16th to 18th centuries. The oldest is Tour du moulin de l'Ecole, from the 12th 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 Pernes-les-Fontaines
How many historic monuments are there in Pernes-les-Fontaines?
The Culture ministry lists 26 historic monuments in Pernes-les-Fontaines: 8 classé and 18 inscrit.
Which monuments in Pernes-les-Fontaines are classé?
8, among them Porte Saint-Gilles, Ancien hôtel de Cheylus ou immeuble Valette, Hôtel de ville, ancien hôtel de Brancas-Cheilus, Croix couverte ou croix de Boët, Église Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth and Fontaine du Pélican.
How old are the monuments of Pernes-les-Fontaines?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 12th century.
Is Pernes-les-Fontaines a protected historic area?
One is on the way: a site patrimonial remarquable for Pernes-les-Fontaines is on the ministry’s list, but its rules are still being drawn up.
When were monuments in Pernes-les-Fontaines first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2025.
How old are the homes in Pernes-les-Fontaines?
13% 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.