The French state will have invested 220 million euros by the end of 2023 to restore and strengthen the security of the 87 cathedrals belonging to it, the Ministry of Culture said on Tuesday, four years after the fire which ravaged Notre-Dame from Paris.
The Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, visiting Amiens Cathedral on Tuesday, is to announce the acceleration of a “cathedral security plan” launched after the fire of April 15, 2019.
“In 2021 and 2022, the Ministry of Culture has allocated more than 167 million euros to cathedrals, including 25 million euros for their security,” the ministry said in a statement ahead of the visit.
This project will be “amplified” with the mobilization “in 2023 of a budget of 52 million euros for cathedrals (excluding Notre-Dame de Paris)”, including 12 million for fire safety and 40 million for restoration work .
Several major projects launched
The cathedrals of Clermont-Ferrand and Beauvais have thus begun major projects.
Work campaigns were also carried out in the cathedrals of Orléans, Rodez, Puy-en-Velay and Dijon.
Notre-Dame de Paris, whose construction site mobilizes 500 people every day, should regain its famous spire before the end of the year for a probable reopening at the end of 2024.
Thermal cameras, partitioning of the attic to slow down any spread of fire, removal of unnecessary electrical installations, dry columns to facilitate the intervention of firefighters: safety measures are increasing in these buildings, implemented by the regional departments of the cultural affairs.
Only 53 cathedrals equipped with fire detection
“In three years, much more has been done than in thirty years! assured the minister in an interview posted online Sunday evening by the newspaper The crosswhile recognizing that only 53 cathedrals are currently equipped with fire detection and remote monitoring.
“Until 2019, it sounds crazy, but only the issue of personal safety was taken into account in the event of a fire. Not that of heritage. We can therefore speak of a real revolution in approach”.
Thus, 66 cathedrals now have evacuation plans for cultural property to protect works in the event of a disaster, compared to 13 in 2019 – and others are being drawn up.
If the level of security has been raised, with most cathedrals now up to standard, three of them “require a particular effort: those of Bayonne, Rennes and Aire-sur-l’Adour”, detailed the minister.
