The 850-year-old Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame suffered massive structural loss in a raging fire.
The fire began at around 6.30 in the evening and quickly escalated to the roof of the cathedral. Sadly, it ended up destroying the cathedral’s stained-glass windows along with the wooden interior before finally engulfing the spire.
What has happened so far?
The iconic medieval structure caught fire and the onlookers were shocked. Firefighters arrived at the scene to take control but even they agreed it wasn’t going to be an easy task.
The causes of fire seem to be unknown, but the officials speculate that it might be due to the extensive renovation works underway.
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As expected, it took the team hours before they could even control the fire.
After 9 hours, the fire service updated the condition and tweeted, “The structure of the cathedral is saved and the main works of art have been put somewhere safe, thanks to the combined action of the different services of the State working together.”
They further tweeted, “According to fire brigade spokesman Lt-Col Gabriel Plus “the whole of the roof has been devastated… a part of the vault has collapsed, the spire is no more.”
Meanwhile, search teams were formed and sent to assess the extent of the damage. The entire world was in shock to see the extent of damage as the charred stone and burnt scaffolding came in full view.
The destruction report
The officials revealed,” The whole of the roof has been devastated… a part of the vault has collapsed, the spire is no more.” Mr. Nuñez thanked the team of 400 firefighters and said,” It could have been much worse, had fire crews not entered the building, without a doubt, it would have collapsed. ”
The entire roof area, which was known as ‘forest’ has been completely destroyed by fire. It was made of pure oak wood that was an integral part of the cathedral’s history.
The iconic spire that was the beacon of its beauty too was mashed and broke off from the buildings main structure due to fire.
Explaining the massive extent of the fire, Franck Riester, the culture minister of France, warned, “While the principal structure had been saved, the building is still unstable.” With great effort, the fire service was able to stop the fire from spreading to the two towers.
All across the globe, it was a pain for people to watch the 13th-century wood structure being charred to ashes. Additionally, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to calm down the panicked people and vowed to rebuild the medieval cathedral of Notre-Dame.
What could be saved?
The Notre Dame cathedral is home to priceless artifacts that date down to the time of Jesus himself. Among them, of the most famous one is ‘The Crown of Thorns’. It is a relic of the passion of Christ and was fortunately saved before being engulfed by the fire.
“Thanks to the @PompiersParis, the police and the municipal agents,” Hidalgo tweeted, “the Crown of Thorns, the Tunic of Saint Louis and several other major works are now in a safe place.” The Notre Dame cathedral is also home to Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the “true cross” on which Jesus was crucified, and one of the nails used by Romans to crucify Christ.
Here is the video:
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What’s next for Notre Dame cathedral?
Apart from the French President, several individuals and groups are already in the process to help restore Notre-Dame. As of now, hundreds of millions of euros have already been pledged by various philanthropists, businessmen, and families.
According to AFP news agency, billionaire François-Henri Pinault, chairman, and CEO of the Kering group that owns Gucci and other fashion brands pledged €100m (£86m; $113m) towards rebuilding Notre-Dame. On the other hand, Reuters news agency reported that another €200m was pledged by Bernard Arnault’s family – a business empire which includes Louis Vuitton and Sephora.
An international appeal is in progress that is launched by the French charity Fondation du Patrimoine, to fund the restoration of this world heritage site.
