Dolmen des Landes · Photo: Milca56 · CC BY-SA 4.011 historic monuments, more per resident than 96% of compared French towns
The Culture ministry lists 11 historic monuments in L'Île-d'Yeu: 7 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 4 inscrit (the second level). The oldest date from prehistory. We have photos of 8 of them.
median compared town 2.5
L'Île-d'Yeu in 8 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
MenhirClassé
Trois dolmensClassé
Église de Saint-SauveurClassé
ChâteauClassé
Dolmen La Gournaise ou des Petits FradetsClassé+3See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
L'Île-d'Yeu has the 3rd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 4,800 to 4,900 residents, by historic monuments.
The median town of these has 2. 12 of the 41 have none.
Where L'Île-d'Yeu’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
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.
7 classé monuments in L'Île-d'Yeu
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
Classé
Classé
Classé
Classé
Classé4 inscrit monuments in L'Île-d'Yeu
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
Inscrit
InscritTombs and cemeteries are the largest group in L'Île-d'Yeu
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Tombs & cemeteries: 5 of 11 monuments (45%). 1 is a religious building, 1 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once.
How old L'Île-d'Yeu’s monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
7 of 10 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Dolmen des Landes (Prehistory). 1 monument has no date on the list.
4 of L'Île-d'Yeu’s monuments were protected in 1889
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
First protected, in 1889: Dolmen des Landes, Dolmen La Gournaise ou des Petits Fradets and Trois dolmens. 2 have been added since 2011.
Historic monuments in the towns around L'Île-d'Yeu
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'Île-d'Yeu | 4,883 | 11 | 7 | — |
| Saint-Jean-de-Monts | 8,868 | 0 | 0 | — |
L'Île-d'Yeu in brief
L'Île-d'Yeu’s oldest monument, Dolmen des Landes, dates from prehistory. In all there are 11 historic monuments, 7 of them classé, including Dolmen des Landes. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 96% of compared French towns. In 2022 the Mission Patrimoine picked Le Grand Phare as a monument in danger to save.
Only 2 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Of the 10 with a date, 6 come from prehistory or Antiquity. The rest is about typical: 6.3% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 7.4% in the median compared French town.
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 L'Île-d'Yeu
How many historic monuments are there in L'Île-d'Yeu?
The Culture ministry lists 11 historic monuments in L'Île-d'Yeu: 7 classé and 4 inscrit.
Which monuments in L'Île-d'Yeu are classé?
7, among them Dolmen des Landes, Dolmen et son tumulus dit La Guette, Dolmen La Gournaise ou des Petits Fradets, Trois dolmens and Église de Saint-Sauveur.
How old are the monuments of L'Île-d'Yeu?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from prehistory.
When were monuments in L'Île-d'Yeu first protected?
The first in 1889, the latest in 2011.
How old are the homes in L'Île-d'Yeu?
6.3% 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) · 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.