Notre Dame cathedral is on fire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm shocked there weren't sprinklers or anything.

In an 850 year old cathedral?

How did it last this long?
If it was mostly constructed of wood, which is not an everlasting product

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm shocked there weren't sprinklers or anything.

In an 850 year old cathedral?

It’s been renovated multiple times and has been undergoing a renovation since 1990 that was almost complete. I would have thought they’d install sprinklers in the attic.

I do know how old it is. I just thought it would be better protected.

[Anonymous]

The spire wasn’t part of the original cathedral anyway. Let the debate begin to see if they should leave it off the rebuild. Looks like a lot of the interior, even the wood, was spared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm shocked there weren't sprinklers or anything.

Really?

[Anonymous]

To all of you who said that this is not a tragedy - I am sorry for you that you cannot feel a connection to historic places of beauty, places outside of the United States, places of architectural grandeur and the like. It is a loss to civilization itself. I said to a friend tonight that I was not sure why I was so upset and she said it's because my heart felt connected to Paris and Notre Dame.

I spent a lot of time in my life on Île de la Cité right around the corner from Notre Dame. I am also part French and also Catholic. So maybe that is why I was so sad by this terrible event and took the devastation to heart.

What if the National Cathedral went up in flames? Or the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception? Or any other place of worship in DC or surrounding areas?

Then you have that sad sack in the White House saying they should drop water from above and calling Notre Dame a museum as opposed to a Cathedral.

This happening during Holy Week is especially hard. I am thankful that the important relics and the crucifix in the Nave were saved. I hope to be alive to see Notre Dame rebuilt to its former glory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was severely bombed by the Germans in WWII. I am hopeful it will be restored once again.

No it wasn't. You're spreading misinformation. It was hit by a bomb and barely damaged during WW ONE. Not WW2.

Go take a look at pictures from WW2.

The bombed Notre Dame was in Saint-Lo near Normandy, which has been restored. Notre Dame in Paris was not bombed in WWII. There are a lot of stupid memes on social media spreading misinformation about this.

[Anonymous]

It is heartbreaking that they did not retrofit any fire prevention systems. It is one of France's most precious national treasures, it should have been somehow protected. Also it is so sad to see the however titanic efforts but it seems all too little too late. If they knew there was no system in place, why in heaven they did not take away the precious art to the museums or some other place for safekeeping till they were safe in situ?

[Anonymous]

I wonder how long will it take to rebuild. It will be most certainly the effort of the whole world as who would not be happy to help? Still the work will take years.. decades perhaps?
Looking at this Wiki page that shows all world's greatest cathedral the National Cathedral in DC is bigger then Notre Dame and took almost 1907 to 1990. Even with relatively modern technology it still took almost a century. I just hope that nowdays with all the funds that will be donated and with all the technological marvels it will be drastically reduced.
Let's hope. The greatest loss is the art, the fantastic irreplaceable glass stained windows. Makes me cry to think about it. The pearl of the Gothic architecture. One and only. So hard to believe it is happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long will it take to rebuild. It will be most certainly the effort of the whole world as who would not be happy to help? Still the work will take years.. decades perhaps?
Looking at this Wiki page that shows all world's greatest cathedral the National Cathedral in DC is bigger then Notre Dame and took almost 1907 to 1990. Even with relatively modern technology it still took almost a century. I just hope that nowdays with all the funds that will be donated and with all the technological marvels it will be drastically reduced.
Let's hope. The greatest loss is the art, the fantastic irreplaceable glass stained windows. Makes me cry to think about it. The pearl of the Gothic architecture. One and only. So hard to believe it is happening.

The vast majority of the art was saved. No evidence the stained glass windows were destroyed.

[Anonymous]

One does not need evidence to see the window on the south side is not in good shape. Like barely there

[TrickyBF]

It was a real masterpiece of architecture... It's a pity to admit, but after such damage they will never restore it again

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long will it take to rebuild. It will be most certainly the effort of the whole world as who would not be happy to help? Still the work will take years.. decades perhaps?
Looking at this Wiki page that shows all world's greatest cathedral the National Cathedral in DC is bigger then Notre Dame and took almost 1907 to 1990. Even with relatively modern technology it still took almost a century. I just hope that nowdays with all the funds that will be donated and with all the technological marvels it will be drastically reduced.
Let's hope. The greatest loss is the art, the fantastic irreplaceable glass stained windows. Makes me cry to think about it. The pearl of the Gothic architecture. One and only. So hard to believe it is happening.

The vast majority of the art was saved. No evidence the stained glass windows were destroyed.

But is the building stable enough without the roof to save all of what is left?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how long will it take to rebuild. It will be most certainly the effort of the whole world as who would not be happy to help? Still the work will take years.. decades perhaps?
Looking at this Wiki page that shows all world's greatest cathedral the National Cathedral in DC is bigger then Notre Dame and took almost 1907 to 1990. Even with relatively modern technology it still took almost a century. I just hope that nowdays with all the funds that will be donated and with all the technological marvels it will be drastically reduced.
Let's hope. The greatest loss is the art, the fantastic irreplaceable glass stained windows. Makes me cry to think about it. The pearl of the Gothic architecture. One and only. So hard to believe it is happening.

The vast majority of the art was saved. No evidence the stained glass windows were destroyed.

But is the building stable enough without the roof to save all of what is left?

The experts in France seem to think so. Why second guess that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One does not need evidence to see the window on the south side is not in good shape. Like barely there

The windows are fine.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/04/15/europe/notre-dame-artifacts/index.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Francois-Henri Pinault has already pledged 100 million euros to rebuilding.

So have the Arnaults. But is frustrating as a French person that the money wasn’t raised before now. Perhaps they did donate before but I’ve been solicited countless times in the last decade after permanently moving to the US to help raise money in the US because the French couldn’t raise the $200 million it initially needed to restore it. The poor Notre Dame has been in disrepair for a long time, it’s very expensive to maintain and there is not a charge to visit it so they don’t raise money from admissions. The repairs have been delayed because of lack of funds and these current renovations were very small in comparison to what needed to be entirely done. But previously the French government and the Catholic Church didn’t have enough money and they couldn’t raise enough money within France so they purposefully came to the US as Americans have a reputation of being more charitable. Even Macron came to NYC, DC and LA to fundraise because he couldn’t get it from the French.

I am glad my fellow French citizens are stepping up but there isn’t a lesson to be learned here that it is important to preserve historical landmarks, monuments, art, and items of cultural significance. Please don’t wait until it’s too late and just think someone else will get to it. Sigh.