The fire broke out in a 15th-century cathedral in western France early Saturday morning, breaking stained glass and destroying the great organ.
The fire at the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Nantes, about 200 miles from Paris, took more than 100 firefighters several hours to control, Reuters reported. Authorities suspect arson.
Jean-Yves Burban had just opened his kiosk when he heard an explosion. He ran out to see huge flames shooting from the gothic structure.
“I am shocked because I have been here eight years and I see the cathedral every morning and night,” he told Reuters. “It is our cathedral and I have tears in my eyes.”
Saint Peter and Saint Paul were completed in 1891, built over five centuries, reported The Associated Press.
The cathedral had been damaged in World War II by Allied bombardments. A fire in 1972 devastated the roof, which was eventually replaced by concrete.
“It is part of our history, part of our heritage,” the mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland, told reporters. “We all have these images in mind, this story in our hearts, but at this stage the situation does not seem to be comparable to that of 1972.”
French Prime Minister Jean Castex and French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin examined the damage later in the day.
The flames broke the windows between the two towers of the cathedral and charred the organ, called “soul of the cathedral” by the parishioners. The instrument had survived the first fire.
“The damage is concentrated in the large organ that appears to be completely destroyed. The platform it is on is very unstable and is at risk of collapse, “General Laurent Ferlay, chief of firefighters in the Loire-Atlantique area, told reporters.
Saturday’s fire comes just over a year after the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, but local fire chief Laurent Ferlay played down any comparison.
“We are not on a Notre-Dame de Paris stage,” said Ferlay. “The ceiling has not been touched.”
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