Nantes (AFP)
The Gothic cathedral of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul in Nantes was victim of a fire on Saturday, quickly circumscribed, but which however destroyed the great organ, an event which led to the opening of an investigation for " arson "while Prime Minister Jean Castex went there.
"Place, now, on the one hand to the investigation, placed under the authority as it should be, of the public prosecutor and on which, at this stage, I have no precise information. then reconstruction, which I wish as quickly as possible and in which the state will play its full part, "he said.
The Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, who also visited the place, indicated that "the quality of French heritage implies quite considerable financial efforts and the State will of course be there for an operation which will necessarily be long ".
Earlier, the Nantes public prosecutor Pierre Sennès had announced to AFP the opening of an investigation for "arson". He said there were "three separate fire points" but "there is no conclusion to draw now".
"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 substantial distance from each other," he noted.
However, there are no signs of break-in at the exterior accesses, he said, while everyone is wondering about the origin of the disaster.
According to Father Hubert Champenois, rector of the cathedral, "everything was in order last night". The cathedral is usually open to the public from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. "Every night, before closing it, a very precise inspection" is carried out, he said.
The judicial police were seized and a fire expert from the technical and scientific police laboratory in Paris was to go to Nantes to examine the fire's start and the electrical installation of the cathedral.
- "Great grief" -
Around 7:45 am, in the center of Nantes, passers-by saw flames behind the rose window and alerted the emergency services, reviving painful memories of the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris on April 15, 2019.
Morgane Jobelin, 30, discovered the disaster when she arrived at work in her tea room located a few dozen meters from the cathedral. "A little before 8:00 am, I noticed that people were looking up, then I saw the big black smoke that rose to the sky and the firefighters with their water lance", she said told AFP.
Thanks to a hundred firefighters and around forty vehicles, the fire was brought under control in about two hours and "circumscribed" around 10:00 am, explained Laurent Ferlay, departmental director of firefighters.
Ferlay said the damage could not be compared to the fires of Notre-Dame, that of the same cathedral in 1972, or that of Saint-Donatien in Nantes in 2015.
Laurent Delpire, curator of Antiquities and works of art from Loire-Atlantique, was able to list the elements affected: the organ and the organ case from the 17th century, a painting by Hippolyte Flandrin from the 19th century, part of the stalls of the choirs which were recent and the stained glass windows of the facade, part of which were vestiges of 16th century stained glass, the rest being modern.
"There are irrecoverable things, like the painting of Hippolyte Flandrin, Saint Clair healing the blind, it is lost forever. It is a great sorrow," said Ms. Bachelot.
Nantes mayor Johanna Rolland (PS), who was able to enter the cathedral, told AFP of her agitation when she discovered the damage. "What dominates is the emotion and sadness for Nantes Catholics, because it is an emblematic place, but beyond for all Nantes residents and Nantes residents".
AFP journalists who were able to enter the building discovered the remains of the blackened wooden organ, littering the ground, behind ribbons delimiting the perimeter.
At the end of the afternoon, the Heritage Foundation announced the launch of a fundraiser for the reconstruction of the great organ.
Earlier, Emmanuel Macron had tweeted his "support for our firefighters who take all risks to save this Gothic gem of the city of the Dukes".
The construction of the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral, in flamboyant Gothic style, lasted several centuries (from 1434 to 1891). In 1972, the disaster was declared following work carried out by a roofer.
mas-jk-ram-faa-epe-neo / gvy / bma
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