In support of the religious heritage of the villages, the Heritage Foundation announces that it has mobilized 16.7 million euros. In this context, 6.6 million euros will be directed to 100 “little Notre-Dames” in French villages and small towns. This first endowment comes symbolically one month before the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, the work of which was entirely financed thanks to public generosity.
Since the establishment of the exceptional tax system for the religious heritage of villages, the Heritage Foundation has mobilized 16.7 million euros: 6.6 million euros via the national collection of the foundation-patrimoine.org site, at to which were added other resources from sponsorships or legacies – i.e. 10.1 million euros earmarked by donors towards rescue operations presented by the Foundation teams.
The 100 religious buildings selected to benefit from the national fund are “representative of different historical cults, specifies the Heritage Foundation. They require significant work, often urgently. Of these 100 buildings, 61% are not protected as historic monuments, 55% are closed to the public or in danger, and almost 50% are located in municipalities with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. »
Mirepoix among the 100
Among these 100 buildings, one is in Ariège. This is the old St-Maurice de Mirepoix cathedral. Rebuilt on the left bank after the flood of 1289 and presenting the regular plan of a bastide, it borders the Place des Halles, which is surrounded by a beautiful group of half-timbered houses with their covered passage on the ground floor. -pavement. The cathedral presents the essential characteristics of religious buildings linked to the “southern Gothic” style. The width of the nave makes it the widest nave of the southern churches.
After the necessary waterproofing work carried out in recent years, it is the preservation of the interior of the Cathedral which takes on an urgent nature. The priority is the consolidation of the interior masonry: fractured mullions and vaults damaged by infiltration. Then will come the interior restoration of the walls, floors and furniture, including the labyrinth, the stone floor paving and the painted decorations.
The town of Mirepoix is mobilized for the restoration of its emblematic cathedral, a major witness to its historical past. This large-scale project plans several phases of work, which are scheduled over 12 years. The first two phases will consist of improving the sanitary condition of the walls exteriors before looking at the interior. The cost of the project amounts to 5 137 645 € HT. The objective of the collection, opened eighteen months ago, is to 513 765 €. But so far, only 6% of this amount has been collected.
If the Notre-Dame fire generated an impressive outpouring of generosity (€225 million collected from 236,000 individual donors, businesses, associations and communities), the enthusiasm around the 100 religious buildings mentioned above is much more variable. €16.7 million represents a tidy sum, but the Heritage Foundation notes that “despite this substantial aid, 5.4 million euros are still missing to cover the total financing needs and permanently save these 100 buildings. National collection (unallocated) and local collections (allocated) remain open to meet all financing needs.”
To contribute to the preservation of the ancient cathedral of Mirepoix, this link: https://www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/nouvelle-cathedrale-de-mirepoix/85168
A. C.
Related News :