Possible arson investigated at famed French cathedral, but blaze contained
French authorities are launching an investigation into possible arson after the famed St. Peter and St. Paul cathedral in Nantes, France, caught fire Saturday.
Pierre Sennes, the Nantes public prosecutor, said a criminal motive is suspected because the fire had three different starting points throughout the cathedral. "It's not a coincidence," he said. "It's even a signature."
The fire has been contained and does not appear to have inflicted severe, widespread damage, unlike last year's devastating fire at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, which was not set deliberately. But the organ was reportedly completely destroyed and the platform on which it rests is "very unstable and risks collapsing."
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The construction of St. Peter and St. Paul began in the 15th century, but was not completed until four centuries later. Read more at The Washington Post and BBC. Tim O'Donnell
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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