I think the spire was added in the 19th century by Viollet le Duc, who rather liked to embellish the buildings he was restoring/rebuilding. That would probably mean the spire itself was just wood and not really connected to the main structure.
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Viollet-le-Duc’s restorations sometimes involved non-historical additions, either to assure the stability of the building, or sometimes simply to maintain the harmony of the design. The flèche, or spire of Notre-Dame de Paris, which had been constructed in about 1250, was removed in 1786 after it was damaged by the wind. Viollet-le-Duc designed and constructed a new spire, ornamented with statuary, which was taller than the original and modified to resist the weather, but in harmony with the rest of the design. In the 20th century, his flèche was a target for critics.
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Maybe he decided to try it again — an suddenly his legendary bad luck caused the cathedral to burn.
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Willing to donate 200M to rebuild after the fire, but the restoration couldn’t fully raise the 150M that they needed before the fire. Yes, this is certainly just altruism. I hope he doesnt get naming rights (the Louis Vuitton Cathedral at Notre Dame).
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Those two families in particular are known for their rivalry. Once one of them pledged, the other one doing so as well was a foregone conclusion.
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Last night, in order to explain to the kids (4 and 5 yo) what was happening, my sweetheart launched Assassin’s Creed Unity and got Arno to climb on the cathedral and inside (and felt bouts of heartwrenching sadness doing so — to the point of nausea). Come to think of it, it wouldn’t have been so informative if the game had been historically accurate.
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Lots of cathedral spires are/were relatively light and not particularly connected to the main structure.
The spire of Lincoln Cathedral, built in 1311, was the first building taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza. It collapsed in 1549, without doing a huge amount of damage to the rest of the cathedral, and was not rebuilt.
No taller structure was built until the Washington Monument in 1884.
When I saw the first images of the inside of the cathedral after the fire, my first thought was that it looked like a Dark Souls scape. What the heck is wrong with me?
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It’s been in terrible shape; happily enough of it was saved – including the Rose Window and the artistic treasures inside – that its restoration will be much needed to prevent this sort of thing again. Maybe this time without a ‘forest’ of incredibly-flammable dry wood that can catch ablaze this easily.
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Paris has bitch’n fire fighter gear!
Firefighter #1: “Whatcha doin after the fire?”
Firefighter #2: “Going to hang with Daft Punk later. You?”
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Look back up the thread a bit. That photo is of a Notre Dame, but it’s the cathedral at Reims (being bombed in WWI), not the one in Paris.
It has nothing to do with the current events.
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I apologize. Its photos are mis-labeled throughout the internet as “Notre Dame in Paris” (which it closely resembles) “being bombed in WW2”. I’ve edited my post to remove the photo.
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Look up “French fire helmet”. They’re indeed quite cool.
One could say literally cool, since their reflective surface is very efficient at protecting the head from heat.
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Interesting. I’ve read of hypotheses that attributed to Templars the importation of the math and techniques involved in the building of ghotic churches. I’m not sure it’s a serious theory but the involvement of math fresh from the Islamic world always seemed rather likely to me.
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Notre Dame is a thing of beauty and age. A person doesn’t have to be catholic or even religious to mourn it’s loss. If the Taj Mahal burned, people would be very upset too.
As for the Parisian’s crying- it must hurt to see your city, your home, burning. Even for the non-religious Parisians, I’m sure Notre Dame is an icon, a place of beauty and majesty in their home that they loved.
This isn’t a local diocese cathedral.
Edit to add: I did mourn the loss of the Buddhas of Bamyan. Didn’t get as much press as Notre Dame because we couldn’t see it happening.
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Why does it creep you the fuck out? It’s a historic landmark that is definitely one of the top 3 landmarks of Paris. Something that people walk by everyday and is etched into the cultural consciousness. And that is just the building, their are historic, cultural, and artistic artifacts inside as well.
Where do you live, and I will find something comparable.
Pretty sure that is photoshopped from a Daft Punks show.
She gets the internet “whataboutism” award for the day.
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One positive note about this is that the 21st century gets to make a significant mark on this structure now. It’s been modified over the centuries, and it looks like the tradition of messing with it isn’t over.
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The more I read about this incident, the more inevitable it seems; between the French government and the Church fighting over who’s responsible for upkeep and restoration and the fact that the entire ceiling was supported by 100-year-old dry wooden beams and linseed oil while workers welded iron right above… I feel like if you wanted to design a building to catch fire easily and burn quickly, it’d look like the upper rafters of the Cathedral.
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