Thieves Ram Car Into Oloron Cathedral on Famous Camino Pilgrimage Route

Edit: even as the Bologna School villains are throwing your cultural heritage in the trash, .or fleecing it in various scams, some people value it.

By Brigit Katz SMITHSONIAN.COM NOVEMBER 5, 2019 The ancient town of Oloron-Sainte-Marie is nestled in the southwest corner of France, just north of Spain. One of the town’s prized landmarks is its 12th-century cathedral, which was once a key stopping point for pilgrims traveling to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela. (St. James the Greater, son of the biblical Salome, is believed to be buried at the religious site.)

 Around 2 a.m. Monday morning, Oloron-Sainte-Marie’s famed cathedral became the target of a brazen heist. As Naomi Rea reports for artnet News, three suspects battered their way through the cathedral’s old wooden door using a tree trunk strapped to the front of a car. Local residents awakened by the noise alerted the police, but authorities did not arrive in time to stop the thieves from making off with a horde of historic treasures.

According to Agence France-Presse, stolen relics include gold chalices, crosses and ceremonial items, an 18th-century nativity scene, and priestly garments—including a 16th-century cape donated by King Francis I.

AMDG