21 May 2017

Rooftops and ruins

From the terrace of the château in Saint-Aignan, high above the streets, you can enjoy beautiful views of the town's old rooftops.


One of the town's major landmarks suffered a major fire a few years ago. It was a convent called Les Bernardines, which you can see below. The building had stood empty for years, and the fire completely destroyed the old roof beams and the interior of the building.

2017 photo

2012 photo

Here's what it looked like before the fire, in a photo I took in 2010, also from the château terrace. Notice the man standing on the peak of a roof in the foreground, staring down into a chimney.


The photo below shows what the Bernardines convent looked like up close in a photo from 2006.


At one point a developer wanted to buy the old building and turn it into a luxury hotel, but the town nixed that idea. I wish I could have seen the interior of the building before the fire.

4 comments:

  1. It looks like there are scaffoldings next too the burned beams. Are they doing sny work on the buikding?

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    Replies
    1. I just added a photo from 2012. It shows the little turret with colombages that is being worked on now. I've seen no evidence of work on the main building.

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    2. I stopped the car near the Bernardines convent today on my way to the supermarket. I tried to walk onto the grounds but the entrance arch was completely blocked off and there was a sign saying Chantier interdit au public. I also found a blog that mentioned legal conflicts that are keeping any work from going on in the main building.

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    3. What a shame a beautiful old building was allowed to sit and molder so long .. and it can't be that safe .. crumbling away over time.

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