Last July, Nantes cathedral was attacked by flames.

Still polluted with lead for more than four months, the building will undergo the first decontamination work from Monday, December 7 and probably until the end of February.

The return of the public to the building is not expected, at best, before 2022.

"I'm fit to go to the cathedral. We have to make sure we don't have any breathing problems."

After her medical visit, Valérie Gaudard, regional curator of historical monuments, will finally be able to enter Nantes cathedral.

While places of worship have welcomed more believers since this week thanks to the new gauge, only experts, insurers and investigators are allowed to enter the building, which suffered an arson on July 18.

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Lead pollution

Still polluted with lead more than four months after the incident, the building is therefore closed to the public.

And its reopening is not for now: the operation of clearing the waste does not begin until Monday, December 7.

As a result of the melting of the organ pipes, the contamination reached a rather unexpected level as revealed by the readings carried out this fall.

The authorities certified that it was safe for residents, but it delayed the start of work.

Decontamination work from Monday until the end of February

"We must first do the depollution. Part of the year 2021 will be devoted to this. We must then restore electricity, safety and security," said Valérie Gaudard on Sunday on Europe 1. "And only after, we can consider a return of the public in the cathedral. "

This return is therefore unlikely before 2022. Because the stages are long: the removal of five tons of charred debris, soiled with lead and sometimes perched at more than six meters in height will take time.

It must therefore begin on December 7 and last until the end of February.

The bill for the work, it promises to be steep.

"It will be a question at the same time of the depollution, the restoration and then the recreation of the large glass roof and the reconstruction of a large organ. We have, with a large ladle, estimated that we were around 10 million euros, "says Valérie Gaudard.

A sum which obviously does not include certain historical elements destroyed by the flames and whose value is inestimable.