- The Drac des Pays-de-la-Loire hopes for a partial reopening of the Saint-Pierre cathedral for next year.
- Pending restoration, several elements still need to be monitored and lead pollution needs to be addressed.
One month after the incident, it is obviously still impossible to enter. But the Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul cathedral in Nantes, seriously damaged by a fire in July, could partially reopen as early as 2021, the authorities announced this Wednesday morning during a visit by the new prefect Didier Martin on the scene.
“Unlike Notre-Dame-de-Paris, where the entire building was affected, here we have three fires concentrated around the western facade, which would make it possible to limit only certain areas”, explains Clémentine. Mathurin, curator at the Drac des Pays-de-la-Loire.
The faithful welcomed in the sacristy part of the Saint-Clair chapel
According to experts, it would therefore be possible to leave certain spaces closed, by allowing the circulation of the public in the rest of the monument. "We could welcome the faithful again in the sacristy part of the Saint-Clair chapel," rejoices Father François Renaud, administrator of the diocese. Access could then be via the garden of La Psalette. The current tonnage of around 2,000 people will however be reduced.
For everything to go as hoped, several doubts still need to be resolved. And in particular that which surrounds the state of the vaults, which can evolve in an unfavorable way, even several weeks after the fire. The tomb of François II and Marguerite de Foix, which was to undergo restoration anyway, is also part of this “monitoring program” even if “no deep degradation” has yet been identified. Recent diagnoses have also shown that the electrical installation has suffered "a lot".
Lead pollution
The urgency is also to decontaminate the cathedral, whose indoor air is now polluted with lead, after the fire in the glass roof and the pipes of the organ. Recent measurements have shown an above-standard rate in the building and on its exterior facade. In addition to a risk of rock fall, this is also why barriers have been erected on most of the cathedral square, even if the air quality is satisfactory in the square, the authorities indicate. .
Throughout the site, these barriers will also be adorned with photos of the work and the various trades that will intervene so that the inhabitants can experience the reconstruction as closely as possible, which should last several years.
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- Nantes
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