On Nov. 3, a fire devastated the ancient Mont-Dieu monastery, destroying the main building of this centuries-old French heritage site, according to the local mayor and firefighters who spoke to AFP.
Anne Fraipont, the mayor of the nearby village of Tannay-le-Mont-Dieu, expressed sorrow over the loss of the monastery, which she referred to as the "Notre-Dame of the Ardennes" and was designated a historic monument in 1946. "There was a lot of wood in this building," she noted. "Now, there is no roof, no floor, only the walls remain."
The alarm was raised by nearby walkers who noticed smoke on Sunday morning. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Firefighters arrived at the scene at 10:00 am (0900 GMT) and managed to control the blaze by 4:00 pm, according to the Ardennes fire and rescue service. Crews remained on-site to extinguish the remaining flames, with the fire brigade warning that the damage was significant enough to risk the monastery's collapse.
Fortunately, there were no artworks inside the monastery at the time of the fire.
Located in the dense forests of the northeastern Ardennes region, Mont-Dieu's Carthusian monastery dates back nearly 900 years. It was originally built in 1130, reconstructed in the 17th century, and abandoned during the French Revolution when the monks were forced to flee.
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