A little history

From the first years of the Revolution, the notion of the conservation of ancient «monuments» for reasons of art and history emerged, in the interest of the Nation, especially at the time of the sale of national goods. In his fight against «vandalism», the abbot Grégoire, a conventional deputy, opposes the destruction of certain emblematic places in the history of France. The control of works on public buildings is implemented by the General Council of Civil Buildings, created in 1795.

Historically, “monument” comes from Latin monumentum, derived from the verb moneo (remember). At the time of the Revolution, the concept of a historic monument concerns everything that makes and must be remembered, and as such applies to buildings and objects of art as well as to archives.

The first inspector general of historic monuments, Ludovic Vitet, in his report to the king of 1831, defines the missions entrusted to him as follows: To ascertain the existence and make the description of all the buildings of the kingdom which, either by their date, by the character of their architecture, or by the events of which they were witnesses, merit the attention of the archaeologist, the artist or the historian, this is the first purpose of the functions entrusted to me; secondly, I must ensure the conservation of these buildings, indicating to the government and local authorities the means to either prevent or stop their degradation. Of these two missions, the first is entirely scientific, and the results, it seems to me, can only be recorded in the reasoned catalogue of the monuments of France, which I am responsible for drawing up; as for the second, it is, in truth, administrative; so it is especially about him that I will have the honor to speak to you» (Report to the Minister of the Interior, 1831, p. 2-3; published in “Études sur les beaux-arts, essais d'archéologie et fragments littéraires”, T. II, Paris, 1847)

In 1837, France created the Commission des monuments historiques for the protection and maintenance of built heritage, which gave opinions and guidelines on interventions to be carried out on listed monuments.

The classification for historical monuments comes from the instruction given to prefects of departments to «classify in order of priority» the monuments of their territory, priority for receiving state aid for their conservation. The Historical Monuments Commission sorted out the proposals made, approved or corrected the planned interventions and validated the choice of architects, departmental architects or diocesan architects, architects from the Prix de Rome, all of classical training. The first lists of monuments classified by the Commission were published in 1840 and 1862 (the latter includes several private monuments).

The control of restoration work has developed in the XIX^e century by means of circulars or instructions (1841, 1849, etc.) specifying how the works were to be approved and implemented, especially in the cathedrals.

The Law of 30 March 1887 on the Conservation of Monuments and Works of Art of Historical and Artistic Interest enables the administrative organization (decree of 1889) and the reform of the Commission des monuments historiques (1889) to be implemented. and the creation of a corps of specialized architects (1893). At the same time, the creation of the Chair of Architecture, entrusted to Anatole de Baudot, and the École de Chaillot made it possible to train architects-restaurateurs by making them independent of the formation of the École des beaux-arts.

Following the Act of Separation of Churches and the State (December 9, 1905), the decree of April 12, 1907 (supplemented by the decree of March 19, 1913) on the status of chief architects of historical monuments includes in this body the former architects of diocesan buildings: the service of the diocesan buildings is dissolved and the cathedrals, property of the State, are affected by «order measure» «at the service of the administration of the fine arts» by the Decree of 4 July 1912

The protection of historic monuments, which derives essentially from the provisions of the Law of 31 December 1913 on historical monumentsThe Mémoloi platform (Mémoire des lois patrimoniales) is dedicated to the history of the 1913 Act.

From historic monument to heritage site

Thirty years after the law of 1913, in 1943, a perimeter of protection is put in place in approaches » historic monuments, with a control regime for work carried out within this perimeter. From the creation of the corps in 1946, the architect of the Bâtiments de France was responsible for ensuring this control. This consideration of the environment of the historic monument is in line with the 1906 and 1930 laws on the sites. The concern to preserve in a global way the urban complexes is concretized with the law of 1962 on the saved sectors then those creating the ZPPAUP (1983) and the AVAP (2010), now reunited in the notable heritage sites » since 2016.

The “Historical Monuments Service”

Over time, the State’s protection and conservation missions have gradually been structured around the “Historical Monuments Service”. The latter has fostered the development of high-level techniques specific to the conservation professions.

After the Second World War, the main developments concerned the deconcentration of missions as the decentralized services were created (conservation of French buildings from 1948 onwards, then regional conservations of historical monuments in the regional cultural affairs directorates from 1978 onwards) and are marked by the major “program laws” of the 1960s. In 1970, a law established the departmental commissions of movable objects, modelled on the departmental commissions of sites. The 1980s saw the birth of regional commissions (COREPHAE then CRPS). The 2005 Ordinance and the 2009 Decrees modernise project management and project management and replace the concept of supervision by that of scientific and technical inspection of the State, clarifying the permanent role of the agents of the State in the matter of advice and expertise to the owners, public or private.

The Freedom of Creation, Architecture and Heritage (CASL) Act of 2016 creates movable historical complexes, conservation easements in places, and notable heritage sites, the national domains, the regional heritage and architecture commissions (RCAP) and the National Heritage and Architecture Commission (CNPA).

The modernization of services, decentralization, decentralisation and adaptation to Community law of heritage professions have not significantly changed the main tasks performed by the State in favour of historic monuments and remarkable heritage sites.

All legislative (since 2004) and regulatory provisions (since 2011) are detailed in Book VI of the Heritage Code.