A fire affecting part of the cloister of Condom Cathedral damaged thousands of ancient works on Friday evening, some dating back to the 16th century, the mayor of this town in Gers told AFP on Saturday, June 13.
"Approximately 90% of the 4.300 books in the old collection were damaged. Some are waterlogged (due to the intervention of the firefighters, editor's note), others are partially burned," Jean-François Sabathier told AFP.
"We are trying to preserve as much as possible," he added, referring to both the buildings and the cloister, "a remarkable vaulted building" part of which houses the municipal media library.
This fire, "accidental, although that remains to be confirmed," adds the mayor of this town of a little over 6.000 inhabitants, notably destroyed part of the Bossuet collection, including among other things a missal of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704), who was bishop of Condom before becoming bishop of Meaux.
"We are currently cataloging all the (affected) books, which date from the 16th to the 19th centuries," the mayor continued. "We managed to save the land registry records and we are trying to secure the cloister."
Around fifty firefighters were mobilized to extinguish the flames, according to the regional daily newspaper La Dépêche du Midi.
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