FIRE in the Angers Castle !

Yesterday afternoon, the people of Angers gathered on both sides of the Maine River to watch the smoke and flames rising from the historic Château d'Angers.

The fire began in an upstairs room of the former royal residence, built in the beginning of the 15th century. The meeting room is closed to the public, and the fire was supposedly due to an electrical problem.

They evacuated the tourists from the castle and saved the tapestries, furniture and other works of art. When we first heard that the castle was on fire, we were concerned that the famous -- and irreplaceable -- Tapestry of the Apocolypse (below) would be destroyed, but it is housed in a different building and was not harmed at all.

Philipp was out running errands when he drove past the castle and saw flames rising 10 feet above the roof. This was around 4:45. We went out again around 5:30, and smoke was still pouring out of the building. It was sad to see such a historic site destroyed. In all, 400 square meters of the roof were destroyed. We saw slate tiles tumbling down as firefighters sprayed water into the flames. They say that the fire caused 2 million euros in damages.

For more photos of the fire, click on this link.