France's Heritage Loto tickets go on sale
Scratchcards offer €1.5million jackpot, plus 'second chance', while five draws leading up to France's Journées du Patrimoine have €2million top prize
Tickets for France's third Heritage Loto, which raise millions to protect the nation's historic monuments, have gone on sale.
Scratch cards, costing €15 each and with a jackpot of €1.5million, were available from Monday, August 31, while five dedicated draws will take place throughout September, leading up to the Journées du Patrimoine on September 19 and 20.
A total €1.76 from each scratchcard will go directly to the Heritage Foundation, headed up by TV personality and historian Stéphane Bern.
Française des Jeux, which operates France's national lottery, has also organised dedicated heritage lottery draws, each with a €2million jackpot, on September 9, 12, 14, 16 and 19. Tickets cost €2.20, and €0.54 from each sale is donated to the Foundation.
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Losing scratchcards can be used to enter a second chance competition to win a 'unique and historic experience' at one of the 18 emblematic sites benefiting from a larger slice of this year's Loto money. Another 103 restoration projects will be announced in September.
The 18 key sites, which were unveiled at the end of June are: Eglise Saint-Etienne de Mélas au Teil (Ardèche); Temple protestant Saint-Martin à Montbéliard (Doubs); Phare, fort et caserne de l’Ile-aux-Moines (Côtes d'Armor); Grange pyramidale à Jars (Cher); Couvent des Filles-de-Marie de l’Îe Rousse (Haute-Corse); Séchoir à tabac de Lipsheim, remonté à l’Ecomusée d’Alsace d’Ungersheim (Haut-Rhin); Eglise Saint-Pierre de Dompierre-sur-Authie (Somme); Fort de Cormeilles-en-Parisis (Val-d’Oise); Théâtre romain de Lillebonne (Seine-Maritime); Viaduc des Rochers Noirs (Corrèze); Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse (Aude); Ancien Tribunal à Baugé-en-Anjou (Maine-et-Loire); Cathédrale Notre-Dame-du-Réal à Embrun (Hautes-Alpes); Habitation Zévallos au Moule (Guadeloupe); Eglise du Sacré-Cœur de Balata (Martinique); Eglise Saint-Joseph d’Iracoubo (Guyane); Pont suspendu de La Rivière de l’Est (La Réunion); Cathédrale de Saint-Pierre (Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon).
Last year's heritage loto push raised €25million to protect and restore France's historic buildings. Over the last two years, 3,500 monuments have been put forward for consideration, 390 projects have been selected for aid, and work has started on 170 of them.
