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Nantes Cathedral damaged in arson fire

 

Three fires, one of which destroyed the church's historic organ, caused serious damage to the cathedral of Nantes in western France Saturday. Police there say the three simultaneous fires are a sure sign the fires were intentionally set.

According to the regional fire chief, the destruction of the 1621 organ, restored in 1971, destroyed the console and may have caused irreparable damage to the platform it sat on. As well, stained glass windows behind it were all shattered.

The fires were discovered early Saturday morning and were fought by over 100 firefighters. Although the damage was much less serious than in the fire that hit Paris's Notre Dame last year, many historic artifacts are believed destroyed. Unlike Notre Dame, where an ancient forest of wooden beams holding up the roof burned, Nantes' St Peter and St Paul has a relatively modern concrete roof structure, built after a fire in 1972 that took 13 years to recover from. 

The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

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