ClasséCathedral · protected 1840Ancienne cathédrale Saint-ÉtiennePhoto: Baidax · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Étienne · Photo: Baidax · CC BY-SA 4.037historic monuments
History of Auxerre · Monuments historiques
A secteur sauvegardé since 1968, and 37 historic monuments
The Culture ministry lists 37 historic monuments in Auxerre: 18 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 19 inscrit (the second level). That’s 11 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 86% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. The oldest date from the 11th century. We have photos of 31 of them.
Monuments historiques
37
11 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
18
the highest protection
Inscrit
19
the second level
Oldest part
11th c.
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
12%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Auxerre in 31 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Abbaye Saint-Germain (ancienne)Classé
Maison de l'ArquebuseClassé
MaisonClassé
Église de VauxClassé
Borne-colonneClassé+26See 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
Auxerre has had a protected historic area since 1968
Sites patrimoniaux remarquables on the Culture ministry’s list, with the plan in force.
| Area | Created as | Plan in force |
|---|---|---|
| SPR27-63 | Secteur sauvegardé May 29, 1968 | PSMV (safeguarding plan) October 20, 1981 |
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 Auxerre’s monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Étienne
10 of 18classé monuments stand within 400 m of Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Étienne, with 20 of the town’s 37 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
37 monuments by protection
18 Classé19 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
18 classé monuments in Auxerre
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 8 of the 18 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
ClasséChurch · protected 1862Église Saint-EusèbePhoto: Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséChurch · protected 1862Église Saint-Pierre ou Saint-PèrePhoto: Baidax · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1923Maison en pans de bois du 16e siècle dépendant de l'Hôtel-Dieu, dite maison du coche d'eauPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown house · protected 1983Hôtel Deschamps de CharmelieuPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1947Maison de l'ArquebusePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséPublic building · protected 1909Séminaire (ancien)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséEngineering work · protected 1958Borne-colonnePhoto: Robin Chubret · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséAbbey · protected 1971Abbaye Saint-Germain (ancienne)Photo: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1924Maison dite Hostellerie de la GrappePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséBishop’s palace · protected 1846Palais épiscopal (ancien)Photo: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséFortified house · protected 1862Tour de l'HorlogePhoto: W. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1925Maison, 23 rue FécauderiePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1925Maison, 28 rue FécauderiePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1923Maison, 5 place RobillardPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Davitof · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Public building · protected 1999Ancien ensemble canonial
Monument · protected 2020Monument aux morts
Inscrit
19 inscrit monuments in Auxerre
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 19, A to Z
Abbaye Saint-Pierre (ancienne)Ancien asile des aliénés, aujourd'hui Centre Hospitalier Spécialisé de l'YonneBâtiment dit de la TurbineChapelle de la MadeleineChâteau de SparreCouvent des Ursulines (ancien)Crypte Saint-AmâtreÉglise des Ursulines (ancienne)Hôtel de CrôleHôtel Leclerc de FourollesImmeuble, 59 rue de ParisImmeuble, 6 rue SoufflotLycée Jacques AmyotMaison de Marie NoëlMaison, 3 rue de l'HorlogeMonument à SuruguePassage couvert ManifacierPorte de Ville (ancienne)Théâtre municipal (ancienne Maison du Peuple)
3 more, named only by their kind
3 more are named in the list only by their kind: 2 buildings (immeubles) and 1 house (maison), most from the 16th century. The 3 with an address are in the list above, by it.
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Auxerre
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes15
Religious buildings10
Public & civic4
Military & fortified2
Tombs & cemeteries2
Bridges & engineering1
Houses & homes: 15 of 37 monuments (41%). 10 are religious buildings, 5 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 3 have no domain on the list.
How old
How old Auxerre’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.7
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution14
19th century 1801–19003
20th century and later since 19013
7 of 27 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Étienne (11th–16th c.). 10 monuments have no date on the list.
When protected
Auxerre’s list has grown since 1840
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1929 · 5
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1840: Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Étienne. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 5 were protected in 1929 alone. 3 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
12% of homes in Auxerre were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
12%
Before 1919
8.6%
1919–45
33%
1946–70
29%
1971–90
9.8%
1991–2005
8.5%
2006 on
AuxerreMedian compared French town
12% of its main homes were built before 1919; the median compared French town has 7.4%. More of them were finished between 1946 and 1970 than in any other period (33%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Born before 1900
53 people born in Auxerre before 1900
The 20 best known on the line, and eight of them below.
Jacques Colin
Jean-Baptiste du Val
Guillaume Daubenton
Louis Liger
Jean-Baptiste de La Curne de Sainte-Palaye
Nicolas Maure
Jeanne Françoise Aglaé d'Andlau
Anne Étienne Marie de La Forge
Boniface Paradis
Joseph Fourier
Hippolyte Auger
Eugène Hatin
Louis Amable Crapelet
Charles Lepère
Eulalie Papavoine
Édouard Lanteri
Octave Uzanne
Paul Monceaux
Maxime Desjardins
Paul-Frédéric Rollet
1500165018001950
LL
Louis Liger1658–1717 · French agronomist
JB
Jean-Baptiste de La Curne de Sainte-Palaye1697–1781 · French academic
JF
Joseph Fourier1768–1830 · French mathematician and physicist
HA
Hippolyte Auger1796–1881 · French writer
EH
Eugène Hatin1809–1893 · French journalist
LA
Louis Amable Crapelet1822–1867 · French painter
CL
Charles Lepère1823–1885 · French politician
EP
Eulalie Papavoine1846–1875 · French woman sentenced during the Paris Commune
Everyone born in Auxerre Birthplaces from Wikidata, checked against Wikipedia.
Towns its size
Auxerre has the 3rd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 32,900 to 37,500 residents, by historic monuments.
Auxerre37
#3 of 41for monuments per resident (11 per 10,000). Most per resident: Paris 8e, Nevers and Auxerre.
The median town of these has 4. 5 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Auxerre
In brief
Auxerre in brief
Auxerre’s old center has been a secteur sauvegardé, the strictest protection France gives a historic town, since 1968. All told, the list holds 37 historic monuments, 18 of them classé. Of its homes, 12% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 86% of compared French towns.
Its classé monuments cluster together: 10 of them stand within 400 m of Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Étienne. Only 2 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Most of its dated monuments come from the 16th to 18th centuries: 14 of 27.
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 Auxerre
How many historic monuments are there in Auxerre?
The Culture ministry lists 37 historic monuments in Auxerre: 18 classé and 19 inscrit.
Which monuments in Auxerre are classé?
18, among them Ancienne cathédrale Saint-Étienne, Ancien ensemble canonial, Église de Vaux, Église Saint-Eusèbe, Église Saint-Pierre ou Saint-Père and Maison en pans de bois du 16e siècle dépendant de l'Hôtel-Dieu, dite maison du coche d'eau.
How old are the monuments of Auxerre?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from the 11th century.
Is Auxerre a protected historic area?
Yes: part of Auxerre has been a site patrimonial remarquable since 1968.
When were monuments in Auxerre first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2020.
How old are the homes in Auxerre?
12% 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.