A fire struck the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris in the afternoon of Monday, causing the destruction of much of the iconic Catholic church. The fire would be related to the works of restoration of the cathedral of Notre-Dame.
According to the cathedral’s spokesmen, the flames began around 6:50 pm (local time) and firefighters arrived a few minutes later – several statues had been withdrawn previously because of the renovation.
However, the fire caused the fall of the iconic needle at the top of the church, Europe’s most visited monument. The area was evacuated. Symbol of France, the cathedral of Notre-Dame began to be built in 1163 and 1345, underwent several reforms over the centuries and was previously struck by another fire in 1871.
Many rockstars reacted to the fire:
The cathedral was begun in 1160 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and was largely complete by 1260, though it was modified frequently in the ensuing centuries. In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the French Revolution; much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. In 1804, the cathedral was the site of the Coronation of Napoleon I as Emperor of France, and witnessed the baptism of Henri, Count of Chambord in 1821 and the funerals of several presidents of the Third French Republic.
Popular interest in the cathedral blossomed soon after the publication, in 1831, of Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. This led to a major restoration project between 1844 and 1864, supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who added the cathedral’s iconic spire. The liberation of Paris was celebrated within Notre-Dame in 1944 with the singing of the Magnificat. Beginning in 1963, the façade of the cathedral was cleaned of centuries of soot and grime. Another cleaning and restoration project was carried out between 1991 and 2000.
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