ClasséChâteau · protected 1978Château de Terre-NeuvePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Gdf85 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Immeuble · Photo: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.025historic monuments
History of Fontenay-le-Comte · Monuments historiques
A secteur sauvegardé since 1985, and 25 historic monuments
The Culture ministry lists 25 historic monuments in Fontenay-le-Comte: 8 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 16 inscrit (the second level). 1 has no protection level on the list. That’s 18 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 94% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 16th century. We have photos of 20 of them.
Monuments historiques
25
18 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
8
the highest protection
Inscrit
16
the second level
Oldest part
16th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
19%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Fontenay-le-Comte in 20 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Maison sise près de l'église Notre-DameClassé
Château de Terre-NeuveClassé
Église Saint-JeanClassé
MaisonClassé
Maison dite Maison BillaudClassé+15See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
Protected area
Fontenay-le-Comte has had a protected historic area since 1985
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR52-67 | Secteur sauvegardé June 18, 1985 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) February 18, 2002 |
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 Fontenay-le-Comte’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Maison
7 of 8classé monuments stand within 400 m of Maison, with 20 of the town’s 25 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
25 monuments by protection
8 Classé16 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. 1 monument has no point on the map.
Classé
8 classé monuments in Fontenay-le-Comte
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 5 of the 8 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
ClasséHouse · protected 1983Maison dite Maison BillaudPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1947Maison Millepertuis ou Maison Henri-IVPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1927Maison sise près de l'église Notre-DamePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
ClasséBuilding · protected 1942Immeuble, 24 place BelliardPhoto: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1931Maison, 26 rue des LogesPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Inscrit
17 inscrit monuments in Fontenay-le-Comte
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 17, A to Z
Ancien couvent des Tiercelettes, actuellement hôpitalCaserne ou Quartier BelliardFontaine RenaissanceHôtel de la SénéchausséeHôtel des Evêques de Maillezais (ancien)Hôtel dit Château-GaillardHôtel Lespinay-de-Beaumont (ancien)Immeuble, 14 place BelliardImmeuble, 16 place BelliardImmeuble, 18 place BelliardImmeuble, 30 rue Gaston-GuillemetImmeuble, 45, 47, 47bis rue de la RépubliqueImmeuble, 94 rue des LogesMaison à arcadesMaison à arcadesMoulin de La RocheTour Rivalland
6 more, named only by their kind
6 more are named in the list only by their kind: 6 buildings (immeubles), most from the 16th century. The 6 with an address are in the list above, by it.
16th c.5
18th c.1
What’s protected
Most of Fontenay-le-Comte’s monuments are houses and homes
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes18
Religious buildings3
Military & fortified2
Public & civic1
Industrial1
Houses & homes: 18 of 25 monuments (72%). 3 are religious buildings, 2 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
How old
How old Fontenay-le-Comte’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.0
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution17
19th century 1801–19003
20th century and later since 19010
The oldest dated: Château de Terre-Neuve (16th & 19th c.). 5 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
6 of Fontenay-le-Comte’s monuments were protected in 1942
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1942 · 6
186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1862: Église Notre-Dame. 6 were protected in 1942 alone. None has been added since 2011.
Age of homes
19% of homes in Fontenay-le-Comte were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
19%
Before 1919
8.5%
1919–45
22%
1946–70
28%
1971–90
11%
1991–2005
11%
2006 on
Fontenay-le-ComteMedian compared French town
19% 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 (28%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
30 people born in Fontenay-le-Comte before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
François Viète
René Mulot
Jacques Fontaine de La Roche
Louis Brossard de Beaulieu
David-Pierre Ballart
François-Célestin de Loynes-Barraud La Coudraye
François Thomas Biaille de Germon
François Pichard du Page
Louis Gabriel Godet de La Riboullerie
Séverin Pervinquière
René François Lecomte
Pierre Louis Antoine Laval
Augustin-Daniel Belliard
Jean-Pierre Louis David
Antoine Pervinquière
Thérèse-Mirza Allix
Augustine Allix
Octave de Rochebrune
Henri du Couëdic de Kerérant
Renée Carl
1500165018001950
FV
François Viète1540–1603 · French mathematician and calendar reformer
RF
René François Lecomte1764–1793 · general of the French Revolutionary Wars
AD
Augustin-Daniel Belliard1769–1832 · French general
TM
Thérèse-Mirza Allix1816–1882 · French painter
AA
Augustine Allix1823–1901 · French singer and musician
OR
Octave de Rochebrune1824–1900 · French draughtsman, painter, sculptor and engraver
HC
Henri du Couëdic de Kerérant1868–1947 · French military personnel
RC
Renée Carl1875–1954 · actress
Everyone born in Fontenay-le-Comte Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Fontenay-le-Comte has the 3rd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 13,700 to 14,400 residents, by historic monuments.
Fontenay-le-Comte25
#3 of 41for monuments per resident (18 per 10,000). Most per resident: Pont-à-Mousson, Saint-Omer and Fontenay-le-Comte.
The median town of these has 2. 15 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Fontenay-le-Comte
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontenay-le-Comte | 14,059 | 25 | 8 | Yes |
| Benet | 4,089 | 2 | 1 | — |
| La Châtaigneraie | 2,600 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Saint-Jean-de-Liversay Charente-Maritime | 3,063 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Marans Charente-Maritime | 4,476 | 1 | 1 | Yes |
| Saint-Jean-d'Hermine | 3,611 | 9 | 0 | — |
| Magné Deux-Sèvres | 2,728 | 1 | 1 | — |
In brief
Fontenay-le-Comte in brief
Fontenay-le-Comte’s old center has been a secteur sauvegardé, the strictest protection France gives a historic town, since 1985. In all there are 25 historic monuments, 8 of them classé. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 94% of compared French towns. Of its homes, 19% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Only 2 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Of the whole list, 72% are houses and homes. Most of its dated monuments come from the 16th to 18th centuries: 17 of 20.
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 Fontenay-le-Comte
How many historic monuments are there in Fontenay-le-Comte?
The Culture ministry lists 25 historic monuments in Fontenay-le-Comte: 8 classé and 16 inscrit.
Which monuments in Fontenay-le-Comte are classé?
8, among them Château de Terre-Neuve, Maison dite Maison Billaud, Maison Millepertuis ou Maison Henri-IV, Maison sise près de l'église Notre-Dame, Église Notre-Dame and Église Saint-Jean.
How old are the monuments of Fontenay-le-Comte?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 16th century.
Is Fontenay-le-Comte a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Fontenay-le-Comte has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1985.
When were monuments in Fontenay-le-Comte first protected?
The first in 1862, the latest in 2009.
How old are the homes in Fontenay-le-Comte?
19% 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.