According to the French Minister of Culture, 20% of France’s 45,000 historic monuments are in a state of disrepair. “poor condition“ and 5% of them are even “at risk“ and “may disappear“.
300 million budget boost for heritage, creative freedom plan : Rachida Dati on Tuesday defended her 2025 budget before the Senate Culture Committee, also renewing her controversial proposal to charge admission to Notre-Dame de Paris. The Minister of Culture took advantage of the hearing to announce the tabling of a government amendment proposing an additional 300 million euros for heritage, due to be discussed on November 13 before the same commission.
“An exceptional situation calls for an exceptional response”.justified Rachida Dati, referring to the state of “alarming” state of France’s heritage. According to her, 20% of France’s 45,000 historic monuments are in a state of disrepair. “poor condition and 5% of them (2,000) are even “endangered and “may disappear”. If the amendment were adopted by Parliament, this sum would be added to the 1.2 billion euros that heritage represents in a Culture budget of 4.45 billion euros provided for in the Finance Bill. “In concrete terms, this amendment will provide an additional 55 million euros for historic monuments in the regions”.continued the Minister. Her ministry specified that this aid would benefit, for example, the Saint-Nicolas tower in La Rochelle, which is in danger of collapsing.
Special attention” for Versailles and the Centre Pompidou
According to Ms. Dati, the amendment will also make it possible to release “23 million euros for museums in the regions, with special attention to small museums in rural areas”.. Last but not least, “it will enable other facilities in the regions, such as archaeological conservation and study centers.”she added. According to her, “special attention” will be paid “for the most pressing needs of our major establishments”.: Center Pompidou in ParisChâteau et domaine de Versailles, Fontainebleau and Chambord.
The Minister also reiterated her desire to set up a “charging admission to Notre-Dame-de-Paris, which could free up 75 million euros to finance the restoration of religious heritage in the regions”.without specifying whether she intended this measure to be permanent or temporary. She specified that, “if the diocese (of Paris, editor’s note) agrees”.this entrance fee could be collected by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux and redistributed to the diocese and the territories, “without touching the 1905 law”. on the separation of Church and State. At the end of October, the diocese had insisted on the principle of “free admission to churches and cathedrals”.defended by the Catholic Church in Francewhile Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the most visited buildings in Europe, with 12 million visitors in 2017 and “14 to 15 million” expected after its reopening on December 7.
Rachida Dati also once again proposed “differentiated rates for major operators (museums and tourist sites, NDLR) receiving more than 60% foreign visitors”.. She also announced her intention to make more concrete use of the money raised by the subscription launched by Emmanuel Macron in 2023 to help small communes preserve their endangered religious buildings, which aims to raise 200 million euros over four years. By the end of the month, “a plan that will concern creative freedom” will also be presented, at a time when several players in the performing arts industry have expressed concern in recent weeks that some plays have been unable to find distributors on tour, due to allegedly too sensitive or controversial subjects. Another announcement: the resumption of a mission on the “economic model for live performance and the sustainability of its financing, with no further details at this stage.