One of France's best known cathedrals went up in smoke over night shattering stained glass windows and sending black smoke spewing from between its towers.
The fire broke out in the Gothic cathedral of the western French city of Nantes on Saturday in scenes reminiscent of the devastating blaze in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris last year.
Firefighters fought the blaze during the early morning as residents and tourists watched aghast.
Emergency workers cordoned off the area around the St Peter and St Paul Cathedral, in the old centre of the city on the Loire River.
Firefighters warned people to avoid the area while efforts to extinguish the blaze continued.
A City Hall official confirmed a fire had broken out on Saturday inside the cathedral, and the cause remains unclear.
It is understood the fire broke the main stained glass windows between the two towers of the 15th century cathedral, which also suffered a serious fire in 1972.
Last year, the world watched as the historic Notre Dame Cathedral went up in flames which destroyed its roof and collapsed its spire and the medieval building looked like it would topple.
