Monday 19th December. In Dijon the mercury finally rises after a week marked by negative temperatures. The air is warming up , approaching ten degrees. The sun also points to the tip of the nose, its rays lapping the towers of the Saint-Bénigne cathedral in Dijon.
Inside the religious building the atmosphere is more… cold. Outside hats, scarves and quilts. Logical, in the largest church in Dijon (67 m long, 26 m high under the vault), no heating and a thermometer showing 7 degrees. «Anyway, we only heat up on the weekends, an hour before mass. And we cut right after,” explains Sébastien Carcel, administrator of the cathedral. The building dates from the 13thand century. There is no insulation, the windows let the wind through… What do you want, it consumes a lot”, explains Father Didier Gonneaud, parish priest of Saint-Bénigne. And this becomes a problem when energy prices rise dramatically, as happens…
