For more than a century, the bright red windmill of the Moulin Rouge has been a ubiquitous symbol of the famous cabaret venue.
But on Thursday, Parisians woke up to a shocking sight: windmill blades bent and lying on the ground after they broke and fell during the night.
Circulating clips local news media Blades were wrapped around the ground in front of the building Thursday. The three letters on the bright “Moulin Rouge” logo also appear to have fallen off.
A spokesman for the Paris fire brigade said firefighters were called to the area just after 2 a.m. and inspected the building to make sure nothing else was in danger of collapsing. Firefighters quickly left as the area was safe and no one was injured.workers are clear clutter Thursday morning.
A spokesperson for the Moulin Rouge said via text message that the collapse was caused by a “mechanical issue” and confirmed that no one was injured. She said it was the first time such an incident had occurred in the venue’s history.
The Moulin Rouge will celebrate its 135th anniversary this year. It has a reputation for hosting whirlwind nights and extravagant shows, and its dancers played a crucial role in bringing the frenetic style of modern cancan into the mainstream. In recent years it has tried to attract a younger crowd and opened a rooftop bar near the windmill blades.
It has been damaged before: A fire destroyed the venue in 1915only to reopen nearly a decade later.
A Moulin Rouge spokeswoman said the blade would be “repaired shortly”. It was unclear Thursday exactly what mechanical problem caused the blade to break.
She said an outside company inspects the windmills every two months and the blades were last inspected in February.
But business at the cabaret, which hosts two shows a day, will continue as usual.
“The Moulin Rouge remains open,” she said.
Segolena Lestradic Reporting from Paris.
