Historical monuments
A historical monument is a building (built or not built: park, garden, cave, etc.) or a movable object (furniture or building by destination) receiving a special legal status intended to protect it for its historical interest, artistic, architectural but also technical or scientific so that it is preserved, restored and enhanced.
This status of “historic monument” is a recognition by the Nation of the interest heritage of a property. This protection implies a shared responsibility between the owners and the national community for its conservation and its transmission to future generations.
Since the 2000s, the legislative and regulatory regime of historic monuments has undergone profound changes.
Since 2009, the owner of a historic monument has been the owner of the work undertaken there. In this capacity, it is responsible for defining the maintenance, restoration or modification operations schedules, choosing a project manager (for buildings or organs) and businesses and restaurateurs who will be responsible for the interventions, to ensure the financing and to solicit for it the assistance of the State, the local authorities or other partners (patrons and foundations…).
This full and complete responsibility of the owner is however accompanied by very precise rules for the authorization and the implementation of the works which are otherwise the subject of the scientific and technical control of the State by the departments responsible for historical monuments of the Ministry of Culture (Regional Directorates for Cultural Affairs).
The Ministry of Culture is also directly responsible, through its decentralised services and public institutions, for the maintenance and conservation of large historical monuments of the state such as the cathedrals and the national areas for which it is responsible.
A protection strategy
In terms of inscription or classification as historical monuments, one of the national priorities is the revision of old, sometimes partial or mixed protections, in order to strengthen the coherence of protection and simplify, for the owner and the services of the State, the management of the historic monument.
Thematic protection campaigns are implemented by regional directorates of cultural affairs (regional conservation of historical monuments) such as the lighthouses of the coasts of France, the memory of the war of 1914-1918, the Atlantic Wall or the heritage of the 20th century, thus calling attention to certain components of heritage.
Consult the criteria and the evolution of the protection of buildings and of movable objects
A conservation strategy
For a long time, a condition of buildings protected as historical monuments is published periodically based on assessments conducted periodically by the departments responsible for historical monuments. Since 2007, it has been communicated to Parliament and since 2018, it has been online. Public or private owners are encouraged to expand maintenance programmes, and regional management is invited to devote 15% of the total annual budget.
Consult the health report on historic monuments – 2013-2018
On average, the budget devoted by the State to the maintenance and restoration of historic monuments reaches nearly €300 million in payment appropriations, excluding major projects, such as the Grand-Palais or the castle of Villers-Côterêts. Each year, between 6,000 and 7,000 construction operations, excluding public institutions, are carried out on historic monuments (buildings or movable objects). 10% of operations concern movable objects, including 2% organs.
According to the studies on the economic and social impact of heritage, the restoration and opening to the public of historical monuments represent several hundred thousand direct and indirect jobs, mainly local jobs spread throughout the national territory, jobs of very high competence.
Consult the section Actors and professions
The policy in favour of historical monuments also includes numerous actions to enhance the tangible or intangible elements of heritage. From the traditional guided tour to the «Open Days Historical Monuments» founded in 1984 and now «European Heritage Days», from the first «sounds and lights» of the 1950s to the volunteer sitesfrom the presence in the places of artists and holders of know-how to immersive and virtual visits, the means of valorization have not ceased to renew.
The opening and animation of historical monuments promotes the appropriation by the general public of «national heritage». The development of heritage and its reuse contributes to local and social development and the tourist economy, to the cultural identity and attractiveness of the territories and therefore to the influence of France.
POP: Open Heritage Platform
The POP platform brings together digital content from French heritage in order to make it accessible and searchable to as many people as possible.
Access to the POP platform
Search for a building classified or listed as a historical monument
Search for a movable object classified or registered as a historical monument
Search for a garden protected as a historical monument