(Nantes) A fire damaged part of the Gothic cathedral of Nantes, in western France, a 16th century building on Saturday, in which three starting points of fire were identified, leading to the opening an investigation for "arson".
The thick plume of black smoke which escaped from the enormous stained glass window of the facade of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul brought back the painful memories of the fire of Notre-Dame de Paris on 15 April 2019, even the incident was quickly circumscribed.
The fire destroyed stained-glass windows and works of art, including the great organ.
Three starting points of fire were observed in the cathedral, one of them at the level of the great organ, Nantes public prosecutor Pierre Sennès told AFP.
PHOTO LUDOVIC STANG, VIA REUTERS
"Between the large organ which is on the facade on the first floor and the other lights, you have almost the entire distance from the cathedral, they are still at a considerable distance from each other", did -it belongs.
However, there is no trace of a break-in at the level of the external accesses, he said.
According to Father Hubert Champenois, rector of the cathedral, "everything was in order last night". "Every evening, before closing it, a very precise inspection" is carried out.
Saturday around 7 am 45 local, "passers-by who saw flames behind the rose window "alerted the emergency services, according to firefighters.
The firefighters then discovered "a violent fire at the level of the organ located behind the rose window and the action focused on this outbreak", according to the departmental director of firefighters, General Laurent Ferlay.
Thanks to a hundred firefighters and around forty machines, the fire was fairly quickly "contained", around 08 local hours.
PHOTO STEPHANE MAHE, REUTERS
The damage cannot be compared to that caused by the fires of Notre-Dame de Paris in 1985, against which the firefighters fought for fifteen hours and which destroyed the spire and the entire roof, nor to that of this same cathedral in 1891, noted Mr. Ferlay.
"great grief" 89184577
Affected by the disaster were the organ and the organ case from the 17th century, a painting by Hippolyte Flandrin from the 19th, part of the choir stalls that were recent and the stained glass windows on the facade, including some were vestiges of 16th century stained glass windows, the rest being modern, listed Laurent Delpire, curator of Antiquities and art objects for the Loire-Atlantique department.
"There are irrecoverable things, like the painting of Hippolyte Flandrin, Saint Clair healing the blind, it is lost forever. It's a great sorrow, "said Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot on the spot.
AFP journalists who were able to get inside the building discovered the remains of the blackened wooden organ littering the floor.
"The great organ has completely disappeared", told AFP, moved, the diocesan administrator, Father François Renaud, who deplored "an inestimable loss".
"Behind the large organ, there are original stained glass windows that have all shattered. It's a complete canopy from the 16th century "that was destroyed, he added.
Prime Minister Jean Castex interrupted a visit to the South to go to the site.
"Now, on the one hand, to the investigation [...] on which, at this stage, I have no precise information. Then it's time for reconstruction, which I hope will be as fast as possible and in which the state will play its full part, "assured the head of government.
President Emmanuel Macron earlier tweeted his "support" for the firefighters "who take all the risks to save this Gothic jewel of the city of the Dukes".
The construction of the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral, in flamboyant Gothic style, lasted several centuries (from 924 at 1891).
In 1972, a claim was declared following work carried out by a roofer . The cathedral could not be returned to worship until 1972, after 14 years of work.