jour de merde
2 Likes
This is a terrible loss- Notre Dame was a priceless part of the cultural history of Paris, France and the world.
Hopefully, they will be able to restore it.
I know it’s not on the same scale, but here’s a tale of a similar fire and restoration:
8 Likes
It was under scaffolding and un-photogenic when I was there in 2006, but that might have been cleaning.
1 Like
That’s the north facade burning. The pictures I have seen suggest that the part of the apse around the altar wasn’t affected as bad as the rest of the cathedral. It contains an absolutely beautiful painted wooden choir screen from the 14th century.
7 Likes
from two years back
An estimated 600 of the country’s 35,000 châteaux are falling into ruin, as are thousands of other sites. Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, for instance, needs a renovation estimated at €150 million.
The government has contributed barely €2 million.
5 Likes
Let’s also not forget that it’s Holy Week. Easter celebrations are going to be tough going in Paris this year.
7 Likes
This is absolutely heartbreaking on so many levels. At this point, I only hope no one was injured, no fire fighters get injured and the stone structure can be substantially saved. 
12 Likes
This is terrible.
2 Likes
That’s not a stained glass window. Thats decoration to the gable wall of the roof, which is timber and burns. The ceiling is stone and below that level. It’s quite possible the interior is unburned.
2 Likes
After the roof burned and collapsed?
That seems like false hope. It’s a tragedy.
9 Likes
I’m afraid this is the kind of fire where you get a phone book and stark looking for the best craftsmen in medieval masonry, woodworking and so on. As long as some parts remain standing they can still say it’s repair and fundamentally the old Notre Dame.
6 Likes
Some of the stonework should be safe, hopefully?
Of course there’s already one person on my social media saying “Let it burn to the ground”, because of course there is.
Drumf says: “So horrible to watch the massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!” Because of course no one knows more about extinguishing fires than he does.
5 Likes
Those are the intention-rich prayers that are the most effective. My thoughts and prayers are that those thoughts and prayers get through. Taking a snark timeout. This cuts too deep.
Here’s a link for donations to Notre Dame
It was set up prior to this catastrophe, for the restoration efforts, and will certainly go towards the reconstruction effort.
10 Likes
Amazingly the scaffolding remains.
4 Likes
I genuinely don’t think the man has the capacity to speak normally at this point.
Speaking at an event in the US state of Minnesota, President Donald Trump has spoken about the ongoing fire.
“It’s burning at a level that you rarely see a fire burning,” he told the audience, adding that Notre-Dame is “greater than almost any museum in the world.”
“It’s very bad and it’s looking like it’s burning into the ground,” he said, triggering gasps from the audience.
He called the cathedral “a part of our culture, it’s a part of our lives”.
“I’ve been there,” said Trump, who rose to fame as a Manhattan real estate tycoon.
“At this point they think it was caused by renovation,” he said, calling the videos of the burning church “a terrible sight to behold”.
via:
3 Likes
I think his experience is more on the side of starting them.
7 Likes
https://twitter.com/KoliaDelesalle/status/1117865987670364160
Good news: all the works of art were saved. The treasure of the Cathedral is intact, the Crown of thorns, the Holy sacraments.
#NOTRE_DAME
https://twitter.com/KoliaDelesalle/status/1117868188534919170
Source: father Frederick, priest for two years in ND.
20 Likes
Good news indeed!
1 Like
The interior ceiling is a stone vault. If that’s still intact, the interior damage should be much lower than if it was an all wood ceiling/roof.
One of the driving forces behind the development of stone vaulting was the fact the wooden ceilings tended to catch fire, so hopefully that early-Gothic technology worked here.
I was hoping to go see Notre Dame soon, as I’ve just finished a class in which we studied Gothic architecture and cathedral construction for part of the semester. I’ve been before, but didn’t really have a good understanding of what I was looking at. I figured a return visit was in order. Guess that won’t be happening for a while now.
7 Likes
12 Likes
