A suspect was referred Thursday, November 7 as part of the investigation into the fire at the Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand church in Poitiers, a medieval monument listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, announced the prosecution.
At the end of his police custody, he was placed in detention and will be tried on Friday afternoon before the Poitiers criminal court. He is being prosecuted for “arson”specifies the public prosecutor, Cyril Lacombe.
On October 3, the Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand church was the target of a fire which damaged works of art.
The fire caused no casualties but caused some “considerable material damage”the prefecture then indicated. The Poitiers public prosecutor's office had opened an investigation into damage and damage to religious property.
A series of acts of vandalism
After these “damage” observed in the church, the town hall of Poitiers had deplored a series of recent acts of vandalism in several other churches in the city. The prosecution indicates that it does not make any connections.
This 10th century church, built according to tradition above the tomb of Saint-Hilaire, doctor of the Church and first bishop of Poitiers who died in the 4th century, was consecrated in 1049.
Looted during the wars of religion, devastated during the Revolution, the church decorated with paintings and sculpted columns was classified as a historic monument in 1847, before being distinguished in 1998 by UNESCO as a stopover on the paths of Santiago de Compostela.
