The Heritage Mission for the protection of heritage in danger, led by host Stéphane Bern, unveiled yesterday the 100 winning departmental projects of this ninth edition of the Heritage Loto, which will benefit from financial support to carry out renovation work. The 2026 selection corresponds to the typology of previous years, with a significant increase in religious buildings. Particularly numerous in France and difficult to maintain, due to their demanding architecture. As most churches generate very little, if any, income, they are structurally in arrears situation, a situation which the Mission intends to compensate for.
In the 17th arrondissement of Paris, the Notre-Dame de la Compassion church, whose chapel is classified as a “historic monument”, is one of the winners. Its interior space is decorated with stained glass windows designed by Ingres and a Pietà by the Romantic French sculptor Henri de Triqueti. Built in 1843, it was restored in 1974, after its movement and complete reconstruction at the end of the 1960s weakened the building. Today, the building is damaged by pollution. The work includes replacing the facing stone and sculptures, as well as overhauling the rainwater evacuation devices, which eat away at the stone.
But the system does not only aim to safeguard listed monuments; on the contrary, it concerns all of French heritage: 47% of the sites included on the list of winners are not protected. This involves guaranteeing locals long-term use of the buildings they care about: the Marville swimming pool in Saint-Denis is a good example. Many elements of its architecture, typical of the 1970s, are threatened with irreversible degradation. In 2024, it closed following the installation near an aquatic center in anticipation of the Paris Olympic Games. The project presented provides for the reconversion of the building into a third sporting, cultural and social venue.
Of the 100 selected projects, 17 castles will also benefit from the support of the Heritage Foundation. The Château d’Haroué, located in Meurthe-et-Moselle, will use the amount collected to carry out work essential to its conservation and the safety of visitors. Some of its architectural elements require urgent interventions due to the risk of collapse they represent. 13% of the projects selected by the Stéphane Bern Mission are homes, making it the third most represented category.
The Chambord of Lorraine: the Beauvau-Craon castle, known as Haroué castle (18th century).
The overall amount of the grant, which will depend on the revenue generated by the Mission Patrimoine games, will be announced at the end of the year. The distribution of funds will then be decided by an agreement between the Ministry of Culture and the Heritage Foundation. Funding comes from the levy on stakes for Mission Patrimoine games, normally collected by the State and paid to the Heritage Foundation. For each project selected, a public collection was also opened on the Heritage Foundation website.
Each year, around a hundred departmental projects are selected, as well as around twenty so-called “emblematic” projects, presented by the regions. In 2026, Mayotte is absent from the departmental list, but represented at the regional level with a project to restore the Antana-Bé mosque in Chirongui.
The selection is based on four main criteria: the project must be of heritage and cultural interest, it must be sufficiently mature, the building must be in a proven state of danger, and a project to promote it must be able to ensure its impact on the territory. Since its creation in 2018 thanks to an amendment to the amended finance bill, adopted in December 2017, the heritage lottery has generated more than 210 million euros for the Heritage Mission – including 29 million in 2025, the most lucrative year.
