Paris and the World Mourns Notre Dame
Famed Notre Dame cathedral has survived The French Revolution, WWI, and WWII, but has been taken by an accidental fire.
via Arts Technica
This week the world mourns the 674 year old Notre Dame cathedral which fell victim to fire on April 15.
Named “Our Lady of Paris”, Parisians from all over gathered to sing Ave Maria and various Catholic hymns as this Monday marked the beginning of Holy Week.
Heroic firefighters and Father Jean-Marc Fournier rushed into the burning cathedral to save the Crown of Thorns that Jesus supposedly wore while being crucified. Unfortunately, no one knows if the priceless stained glass windows have survived the fire.
Notre Dame first began construction in 1163 and finally finished in 1345. Over time the cathedral fell to despair until Victor Hugo wrote the classic novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. With this novel reaching such critical acclaim, the French government started the first reconstruction of Notre Dame in 1841.
French President Emmanuel Macron was reported to have said that rebuilding Notre Dame will take 5 years. Over 900 million euros have been donated in order to fund this reconstruction, with $5 million being donated by Disney due to the Disney movie, Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Unfortunately for those who were unable to see Notre Dame in its original grace, it is impossible for the cathedral to ever return to how it looked before the fire. People do not know whether France will update the cathedral to modern times or try their hardest at attempting to replicate Notre Dame’s intricate designs.
Although the French government has no definite proof as to how this fire started, they have ruled out both terrorism and arson.
Below are photos comparing Notre Dame from its original state to its current one.
