From the early years of the Revolution, the notion of conservation of ancient «monuments» emerged for reasons of art and history, in the interest of the Nation, especially at the time of the sale of national properties. In his fight against «vandalism», Abbé Grégoire, a conventional deputy, opposed 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). The notion of historical monument concerns, at the time of the Revolution, everything that makes and must remember and as such applies as well to buildings and objects of art as to archives.
The First Inspector General of Historic Monuments, Ludovic VitetIn his report to the king of 1831, he thus defined the missions entrusted to him:Note 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, deserve 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 either to prevent or to stop their degradation. Of these two missions, the first is entirely scientific, and the results, it seems to me, can be recorded only in the catalogue raisonné of the monuments of France, which I am in charge of drawing up; as for the second, it is, quite frankly, administrative; so it is especially about him that I will have the honour to speak to you.” (Report to M. le ministre de l'Intérieur, 1831, p. 2-3; published in «Études sur les beaux-arts, essais d'archéologie et fragments littéraires», T. II, Paris, 1847)
In 1837, for the protection and maintenance of built heritage, France created the Commission des monuments historiques, which gave advice and guidance on the interventions to be carried out on listed monuments.
The classification as historical monuments comes from the instruction to the prefects of the departments to «prioritize» the monuments of their territory, priority to receive state aid for their conservation. The Historical Monuments Commission trialled the proposals made, approved or corrected the planned interventions and validated the choice of architects, departmental 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).
Control of restoration work developed in XIXe century by means of circulars or instructions (1841, 1849…) specifying how the work should be approved and implemented, particularly in cathedrals.
The law of 30 March 1887 for the conservation of monuments and works of art of historical and artistic interest allows to deploy the administrative organization (decree of 1889), the reform of the Historic Monuments Commission (1889) 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-restorers by making them independent of the École des beaux-arts.
Following the Law of Separation of Churches and the State (9 December 1905), the Decree of 12 April 1907 (supplemented by the Decree of 19 March 1913) on the Status of Chief Architects of Historic Monuments incorporated into this body the former architects of diocesan buildings: the service of the diocesan buildings is dissolved and the cathedrals, owned by the State, are assigned, by «measure of order» «in the service of the administration of the fine arts» by the decree of 4 July 1912
The protection of historic monuments, derived essentially from the provisions of the Law of 31 December 1913 on historic monumentsThe Mémoloi Platform (Memory of Heritage Laws) is dedicated to the history of the 1913 Act.
From Historic Monument to Heritage Site
Thirty years after the 1913 law, in 1943, a perimeter of protection was put in place for theapproaches» historic monuments, with a system of control of the work carried out within this perimeter. From the creation of the corps in 1946, the architect of Les Bâtiments de France was in charge of this control. This consideration of the environment of the historic monument is in line with the laws of 1906 and 1930 on the sites. The concern to preserve urban areas in a comprehensive way is embodied in the 1962 Law on Protected Areas, followed by those creating the ZPPAUP (1983) and the AVAP (2010), which are now included in the «remarkable heritage sites» since 2016.
The «service of historical monuments»
Over time, the protection and conservation missions provided by the State have gradually been structured around the «service of historical monuments». The latter has promoted the development of high-level techniques specific to conservation professions.
After the Second World War, the essential evolutions concern the deconcentration of the missions as and when the deconcentrated services were created (conservation of the buildings of France from 1948, then regional conservation of historical monuments in the regional directorates of cultural affairs from 1978) and are marked by the great «program laws» of the 1960s. In 1970, a law established departmental commissions of movable objects, modelled on 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 with that of scientific and technical control of the State, explaining the permanent role of State agents in matters of advice and expertise to owners, public or private.
The Law on Freedom of Creation, Architecture and Heritage (CASL) of 2016 creates movable historical ensembles, servitude of preservation in the places, the remarkable heritage sites, national domains, the regional heritage and architecture commissions (CRPA) and the National Heritage and Architecture Commission (CNPA).
The modernization of services, the deconcentration, the decentralization, the adaptation to Community law of heritage professions have not significantly changed the main missions of the State in favor of historic monuments and remarkable heritage sites.
All legislative (since 2004) and regulatory (since 2011) provisions are detailed in the Book VI of the Heritage Code.
