Petites cités de caractère® (Small towns of character)
The concept of Petites Cités de Caractère® was born in the mid-1970s as a way of promoting atypical towns that are both rural in location and small in population, and urban in history and heritage.
The project in these towns is to unite the various players around a single objective: safeguarding heritage as a lever for regional development.
Petite cité de Caractère® tour
Did you know? You can discover the “petites cités de caractère” circuit interactively by downloading the IDVizit application, available free of charge on the App Store and Google Play.
Petites Cités de Caractère® in Eastern France
From the Ardennes to Alsace, from Champagne to Lorraine, from Moselle to Vosges, 29 towns in the region have signed up to the Petites Cités de Caractère® program. The Petites Cités de Caractère® brand promotes atypical towns, somewhere between urban and rural: both rural in location and small in population, and urban in history and heritage. Centuries-old towns have been centers of religious, commercial and military power. Their heritage tells the story.
The five mandatory criteria :
- The built-up area must be protected as a Monument Historique or Site Patrimonial Remarquable,
- Small urban units: municipalities with fewer than 6,000 inhabitants, or the population residing within the area protected as a Historic Monument or Remarkable Heritage Site must be less than 6,000 at the time of application for membership.
- The built-up area must be sufficiently dense to give it the appearance of a city, it must have a high-quality, homogeneous architectural heritage that bears witness to its history, and it must have exercised and/or be exercising central urban functions,
- The commune must have a multi-year program for the restoration and rehabilitation of its built heritage and the enhancement of its tangible and intangible heritage,
- The municipality must be part of the local tourism development strategy.
Seven commitments from local authorities
- Creation of a Site Patrimonial Remarquable and implementation of appropriate regulations,
- Maintenance and enhancement of public spaces,
- Maintenance and enhancement of public buildings,
- Maintenance and enhancement of private buildings,
- The commune’s commitment to welcoming the public,
- The commune’s commitment to animation.
- Commitment by the municipality to participate in the life of the network
Sundays with character
Combining walks, heritage discoveries and local product tastings, Dimanches de Caractère offer original tours of the Grand Est’s #petitescitesdecaractere.
May 5 to October 13.