Monument historique

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The protection in France known as Monument historique is a State procedure by which heritage is instituted for a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings or an entire neighborhood, plus gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their architectural and historical importance. It is used for both public and privately owned structures. The designation traces its roots to the French Revolution when the government appointed Alexandre Lenoir to specify and safeguard certain structures. Since the 1990s, a significant number of scientific places have been given the designation because of their historical importance. There is a secondary category called "Inventaire Supplementaire des Monuments Historiques" (ISMH).

Examples of buildings classified as a Monument historique include well known Parisian structures such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Palais Garnier opera house, plus abbeys, churches, and cathedrals such as Notre Dame de Paris or hotels such as the Crillon. Many of the Châteaux of the Loire Valley carry the MH designation as do the renowned gardens at Château de Villandry.

The first classifications were given in the 19th century by the writer Prosper Mérimée, inspector-general of historical monuments - see Roquetaillade castle. Some buildings may be given the classification for either their exterior or interior, or both, while in other cases a building's décor, its furniture, a single room, or even a staircase may be given the designation because of its historical significance. An example is the MH classification of the décor in the café "Deux Garcons" in Aix-en-Provence whose patrons included the likes of Alphonse de Lamartine, Émile Zola and Paul Cézanne. Some buildings are designated because of their connection to a personality, such as the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise which is designated a Monument historique because of its connection to the painter Vincent van Gogh.

In the United Kingdom, the designation is referred to as a Listed building and in Spain as a Monumento histórico.