Created in 1978 and launched online in 1995, Mérimée is a database of French monumental and architectural heritage from prehistory to the present day: religious, domestic, agricultural, school, military, industrial architecture. As of October 2020, it has over 320,000 records.
Merimée includes three fields that can be queried separately by the filter producer or simultaneously:
- the Historical Monuments (MH) domain, fed by the MAP, makes available the PA records on the buildings classified or listed under the Historical Monuments. Mérimée-MH is the list of historical moments provided for by the Heritage Code (regulatory scope): the notices provide regulatory information on the level and extent of protection for historical monuments. The records of the Historical Monuments are drawn up according to the files and the protection orders, which can be consulted in their entirety in the reading room of the MAP, in Charenton-le-Pont or in each DRAC.
- The General Inventory (IVR) domain provides Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) of inventory files completed by regional departments.
- The ARCHITECTURE domain contains notices of properties labeled Remarkable Contemporary Architecture (ACR) and Houses of Illustres.
Since the base is enriched by several producers, a same building can be listed in two different notices, if it has been identified by the General Inventory (notices in IA) and if it benefits from a production Historical monuments (notices in PA).
The base Mérimée is regularly updated and accessible on POP, the open heritage platform, and Collections.