ClasséTown walls · protected 1905Enceinte (ancienne)Part of the building is protectedPhoto: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Ancien archevêché ou ancien palais archiépiscopal · Photo: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.039historic monuments
History of Sens · Monuments historiques
39 historic monuments, the oldest from Antiquity
The Culture ministry lists 39 historic monuments in Sens: 14 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 25 inscrit (the second level). That’s 14 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 92% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5. We have photos of 36 of them.
Monuments historiques
39
14 per 10,000 residents
median compared town 2.5
median compared town 2.5
Classé
14
the highest protection
Inscrit
25
the second level
Oldest part
Antiquity
of any listed monument
Homes before 1919
13%
median compared town 7.4%
In pictures
Sens in 36 photos
Nearly every classé monument, photographed. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Enceinte (ancienne)Classé
Rempart gallo-romainClassé
Salle synodaleClassé
Église Saint-SavinienClassé
cathédrale Saint-ÉtienneClassé+31See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its license; names open the monument’s page.
How old
How old Sens’ monuments are
Each monument once, by the oldest part the list dates.
Prehistory & Antiquity to the 4th c.2
Middle Ages 5th–15th c.4
16th to 18th century Renaissance to Revolution17
19th century 1801–19001
20th century and later since 19014
6 of 28 dated monuments have parts from before 1500. The oldest dated: Enceinte (ancienne) (13th c.). 11 monuments have no date on the list.
Map
Where Sens’ monuments stand
Every monument with a point on the ministry’s list; the larger, darker dots are classé.
ClasséInscritWithin 400 m of cathédrale Saint-Étienne
8 of 14classé monuments stand within 400 m of cathédrale Saint-Étienne, with 29 of the town’s 39 monuments.
Tap a dot to open the monument’s page: its record, photo and the monuments around it.
39 monuments by protection
14 Classé25 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
14 classé monuments in Sens
Classé is France’s highest protection for a building, held by about a third of the monuments on the list. 6 of the 14 are protected in part only (a façade, a roof, a room). Each card opens the monument’s page.
Classé
ClasséCathedral · protected 1840cathédrale Saint-ÉtiennePhoto: Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
Classé
ClasséHouse · protected 1923Maison dite d'AbrahamPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Villedesens89 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHouse · protected 1923Maison dite du PortailPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Cdistetienne · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséChurch · protected 1965Église Saint-PreigtsPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Robin Chubret · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHospital · protected 1862Hôpital Saint-JeanPart of the building is protectedPhoto: Robin Chubret · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséTown hall · protected 1995Hôtel de villePart of the building is protectedPhoto: Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséHome · protected 1862Ancien archevêché ou ancien palais archiépiscopalPhoto: Pline · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Classé
ClasséBuilding · protected 1980Immeubles dits Ancien Moulin de la ViergePhoto: Robin Chubret · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ClasséInscrit
25 inscrit monuments in Sens
Inscrit is the second level of protection: the building is worth keeping, and any work on it must be declared.
All 24, A to Z
Carmel, 149 rue de la RésistanceCentre commercial dessiné par Claude ParentÉglise Saint-Savinien-le-JeuneÉglise Sainte-MathieHôtel de VaudricourtHôtel de ville (ancien)Hôtel, 9 rue AbélardImmeuble de rapport Art NouveauImmeuble, 66 rue ThénardMaison, 1 rue RigaultMaison, 12 rue AbélardMaison, 14 rue AbélardMaison, 17 rue JosseyMaison, 18 impasse de l'EpinglierMaison, 46 rue AllixMaison, 5 rue du Tambour-d'ArgentMaison, 58 rue AllixMaison, 6 rue de la BanqueMaison, impasse AbrahamMaisons, 6, 8, 10 rue AbélardMarché couvertMonument aux morts de l'arrondissement de SensMusée Jean-CousinThéâtre municipal
15 more, named only by their kind
15 more are named in the list only by their kind: 11 houses (maisons), 1 town house (hôtel), 1 building (immeuble) and 2 others, most from the 18th century. The 14 with an address are in the list above, by it.
13th c.1
17th c.3
18th c.5
undated6
What’s protected
Houses and homes are the largest group in Sens
Each monument under the main domain Mérimée gives it.
Houses & homes19
Religious buildings9
Public & civic4
Shops & trade2
Tombs & cemeteries1
Houses & homes: 19 of 39 monuments (49%). 9 are religious buildings, 6 of them classé.
Mérimée files each monument under one main domain: a château with its chapel counts once. 4 have no domain on the list.
When protected
Sens’ list has grown since 1840
Monuments by the year they were first protected.
1926 · 61972 · 5
1840186018801900192019401960198020002020
First protected, in 1840: cathédrale Saint-Étienne. That was France’s first list of monuments historiques, drawn up in Prosper Mérimée’s time as inspector. 6 were protected in 1926 alone. 4 have been added since 2011.
Age of homes
13% of homes in Sens were built before 1919
Main homes by when they were finished, beside the median compared French town (the tick).
13%
Before 1919
7.8%
1919–45
23%
1946–70
33%
1971–90
13%
1991–2005
10%
2006 on
SensMedian 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 (33%).
INSEE, census 2023: main homes (résidences principales) only; second homes and empty homes aren’t dated.
Towns its size
Sens has the 3rd most monuments of 41 towns its size
Compared French towns of 25,800 to 28,000 residents, by historic monuments.
Sens39
#3 of 41for monuments per resident (14 per 10,000). Most per resident: Paris 4e, Saumur and Sens.
The median town of these has 3. 5 of the 41 have none.
Neighbors
Historic monuments in the towns around Sens
| Town | Residents | Monuments | Classé | Protected area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sens | 27,106 | 39 | 14 | — |
| Saint-Clément | 2,849 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Paron | 4,834 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Pont-sur-Yonne | 3,391 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Villeneuve-sur-Yonne | 5,135 | 9 | 5 | Yes |
| Villeneuve-la-Guyard | 3,455 | 1 | 0 | — |
| Joigny | 9,016 | 19 | 10 | Yes |
In brief
Sens in brief
Sens’s oldest monument, Enceinte (ancienne), dates from Antiquity. In all there are 39 historic monuments, 14 of them classé, including Ancien archevêché ou ancien palais archiépiscopal. Per resident, it has more historic monuments than 92% of compared French towns. Of its homes, 13% were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
cathédrale Saint-Étienne sits at the heart of it all, with 8 of the town’s classé monuments within 400 m. Only 2 of the 41 towns nearest its size have more historic monuments. Of the 28 with a date, 17 come from the 16th to 18th centuries.
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 Sens
How many historic monuments are there in Sens?
The Culture ministry lists 39 historic monuments in Sens: 14 classé and 25 inscrit.
Which monuments in Sens are classé?
14, among them Enceinte (ancienne), Rempart gallo-romain, cathédrale Saint-Étienne, Église Saint-Maurice, Église Saint-Pierre-le-Rond and Maison dite d'Abraham.
How old are the monuments of Sens?
The oldest parts of its listed monuments date from Antiquity.
When were monuments in Sens first protected?
The first in 1840, the latest in 2016.
How old are the homes in Sens?
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) · 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.