Suffering to lift price range for the recovery of his cathedral’s vintage organ, a clergyman from St.-Flour, a small the town in France’s heartland, got here up with an artistic resolution. He grew to become one of the crucial bell towers right into a curing workshop the place farmers may dangle their hams to dry.For just about two years, after being blessed by means of a neighborhood bishop, beef legs swayed in peace within the dry air of the cathedral’s north tower, bringing in much-needed price range and delighting charcuterie enthusiasts. Then an inspector for the group that oversees France’s architectural heritage stepped in.After noticing a grease stain at the flooring of the bell tower, in addition to different infractions, the inspector ordered that the hams be taken down. They have been a fireplace danger, he mentioned in a document in December 2023, in line with cathedral officers. When the cathedral refused to take away the hams, the dispute escalated all of the approach to the rustic’s minister of tradition, Rachida Dati.The struggle over the St.-Flour hams was once extensively derided for instance of ways overzealous officers can quash cutting edge native tasks. It additionally spoke to a bigger factor that growing older church buildings throughout France had been grappling with as they face pricey reparations: Who’s going to pay to care for the rustic’s huge spiritual heritage?After the French Revolution, church houses have been seized by means of the state, which sooner or later took accountability for overseeing maximum of them. However the central executive and native municipalities have struggled to fund the upkeep of the rustic’s cathedrals and church buildings.
