…et je suis desolee.
Went to Notre Dame in high school and with my wife decades later.
Truly dreadful.
I have the same dreadful sinking feeling when the Taliban destroyed the 6th c. Buddhas of Bamyan in 2001.
Great treasures lost.
1 Like
Hopefully this is just construction ignorance rather than willful ignorance.
1 Like
Absolutely, my thoughts immediately went in this direction as well.
Agreed on all points. I hope they can rebuild, although it won’t be quite the same.
I was reminded of this very thing today as well. Gut-wrenching sense of loss…
We are stunned. We were just there. Please don’t let this be intentional.
1 Like
My guess it probably faulty wiring since from what I hear, the fire started on one of the upper floors. That would be a harder area to access and I can only image how old some of the electrical is up there.
Also no one has taken credit as of yet.
I was in Paris last week for a conference. I was devastated to see this as well.
What’s the same? Organ, spire, electric lighting have all been added, stained glass has been modified, even additions have been made. It’s a living structure, but I’d like to see it restored to original 12th century condition. However I’m a history buff.
I worry that ancient construction techniques which may be required to replace lost/damaged elements of the building may be lost and not able to be reproduced.
This is a very common sort of fire. Hotworking and then everyone leaves and something drips and it all goes up in smoke. I’ve dealt with a few such claims. One was at Liberty Department Store in London, they were welding in a lift shaft in a wooden 19th century building. Something to do with magnesium, burns hot and fast.
The new structure supporting the roof should be a lot better, steel rather than wood. It will all take a long time. I’ve walked past and around dozens of times, but only went in about 2 or 3 times.
I remember I met someone, can’t remember her name, in Cairo in about 1986. No internet. We used to travel together occasionally, once around Thailand. The deal was I sent a postcard to her uncle in Zurich, he forwarded to a postbox somewhere in Asia, where she was travelling much of the time. So I sent a card saying “Notre Dame, Saturday 10:30 am whatever date”, sometime around 1989, three months later, no worries at all, but she was about 5 minutes late. Besides a memory of Notre Dame, I remember we went to a good concert concert (John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia and Maria Pages) up at La Geode that lasted about 6 hours and we then walked all the way down to Montparnasse at about 3 in the morning. I also remember we did a hot cholocate tour of Paris, many laced with alcohol, and feeling rather unwell.
It is by far the most beautiful city in the world and has to be done on foot. Last time we were there at the end of last year we did 25,000 steps three days running.
There is a beautiful chapel near Buckingham Palace in London. It was nearly destroyed in WWII. Basically, only the asp behind the altar was salvageable They built a beautiful modern chapel around that asp. The contrast between ancient and modern is strikingly lovely and a constant reminder of the circumstances that led to its coming into being. I think a blending of the old and the new might be appropriate for Notre Dame, given the extensive damage it sustained and the loss of irreplaceable art treasures from inside. I don’t expect everyone to agree. I just hope the idea gets full consideration as they proceed to restore this building.
I agree, although age and infirmity are catching up with me. I’ll walk as much as I can when we’re in Paris in June for the 75th anniversary of D-Day. We visited Notre Dame when we were there for the 70th and it was a major highlight of our trip.
It is called Notre Dame - “Our Lady”. It’s full name is Notre Dame de Paris - “Our Lady of Paris”
There are other Notre Dame’s, notable Notre Dame de Reims. It is equally if not more impressive than Notre Dame de Paris. Built at the same time. We turned up one cold day in January and it was almost completely empty. Imagine going into Notre Dame in Paris on your own. Reims is more austere and a bit terrifying. It is well worth the trip, although it is on the normal route from the UK to the South of France, Switzerland and Italy.
It also had a very severe roof fire in the 15th century. In WW1 it was accidentally bombed by the Germans. One of the main windows was knocked out, not the Rose Window, and the roof burned own again. I can’t remember why, but there is now a triptych window by Marc Chagall that is absolutely stunning. It’s on the wiki page here:
No bias, even though I share his name and he was probably related to my great-grandfather as they were both from Liozna near Vitebsk, and he also did the ceiling in the Palais Garnier, but it would be lovely if they did something similar at Notre Dame de Paris.
So, Norris - this Chapel you mention…snake-charmer religion? ; )
Maybe not - at least as far as the stained glass is concerned. We visited this museum the last time we were in France:
A stained glass museum and training center in Chartres where the old techniques are studied and taught.
As far as stained glass windows, anyway, there are still some stunning examples of to see in Paris at St Chapelle.
There are so many old structures in Europe that many, if not all, of the traditional skills and crafts that built the structures have been kept alive in order to maintain them.
Thanks. Pleased to know they aren’t Heathens. Though the question was a joke about the typo “asp” rather than “apse”.
Looks like a cupola to me.