Arson inquiry launched after fire at Nantes Cathedral
FRENCH authorities launched an arson investigation yesterday after firefighters saved a cathedral in Nantes from a devastating blaze reminiscent of the Notre Dame fire just over a year ago.
The major fire broke out yesterday morning inside the 15th-century Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul in the western French city. It destroyed the organ, which is known as the “soul of the cathedral”.
Stained glass windows were shattered and black smoke spewed out from between the cathedral towers before 104 firemen brought it under control. Prosecutor Pierre Sennes told reporters three fires had been started at the site and authorities were treating the incident as a criminal act. He gave no other details.
“After Notre-Dame, the Saint-Pierreet-Saint-Paul cathedral, in the heart of Nantes, is in flames. Support for our firefighters who take all risks to save this Gothic jewel of the city,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter.
Notre Dame’s lead roof and spire burned down in April 2019 in a devastating fire that threatened to topple the medieval monument in the capital. “We are not in a Notre Dame de Paris scenario. The roof has not been touched,” local fire chief Laurent Ferlay said.
It was not the first time fire has damaged the cathedral, which was partly destroyed during the Second World War in 1944 after Allied bombings.
The cathedral had been built over five centuries and was completed in 1891. The main organ had previously survived a serious fire in 1972, which annihilated much of its wooden structures. It was finally rebuilt 13 years later with a concrete structure replacing the ancient wooden roof.
That concrete helped limit the damage of the fire on Saturday.