Paris- Notre Dame Cathedral on fire

[jrj3rd]

The Cathedral is not owned by the Catholic Church but it would not surprise me that they are part of the rebuild effort. The cathedral is the most visited historical site in the world from what I read last night. 13 million visitors a year at 10 euro a head. You can bet it will be rebuilt. Since most of the interior was saved it will be interesting to see how quickly the doors open to get the cash flow restarted.

[stevej37]

I see a new Jack Ryan movie coming.

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by drcoastline

But I wonder does the Catholic Church really need donations to rebuild Notre Dame? After all it is one of the richest if not THE richest organization in the world.

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I would think the Catholic church can write a check to pay for the damage. Especially with millions in donations to boot.

As mentioned in the article, the Catholic church does not own the building. So there's probably a lot of hoops for jumping.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Gogar

As mentioned in the article, the Catholic church does not own the building. So there's probably a lot of hoops for jumping.

Just curious who or what owns the building and the site?

[javadog]

France owns the building, the church is on the hook for upkeep.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Just curious who or what owns the building and the site?

The city of Paris.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

The stained glass can certainly be replaced but just knowing that the original glass is gone is tragic. I know that some may say glass is glass is glass but for me knowing that I'm looking at a work of art which was created centuries ago makes it more special.

The glass was destroyed by fire on one of the windows, at a later time most of the glass was shot out of the others.

Most of the stained glass is not centuries old as it has been destroyed before.

[RWebb]

NYT has a good article on this - most of the glass and some bems date from the mid-1800's

the turret is also not original

2/3 of the roof is gone but there is not a lot of damage at ground level

they are assessing structural damage now; apparently not too bad (dunno if that means ok to enter or ok in general)

fire alarm went off and they could not find a source; later alarm about 1/2 hr later

[jyl]

The apparent inaction in the first hour or so after the fire broke out was intentional. The Pompiers de Paris were saving the irreplaceable art and artifacts inside the cathedral, because they knew it would be destroyed by water etc once they started attacking the fire. Imagine going inside a burning cathedral, flaming debris falling from hundreds of feet, risking your life to save precious thousand year old objects. The courage of firefighters. Shown by NYFD on 9/11, by PDP on 4/15, and by firefighters every day the world over.

The cathedral has been intensively documented and will be rebuilt. Won't be the first time. The cathedral was restored in the 1800s by Violet-le-Duc, including a new spire. Europe has lots of experience rebuilding its glorious cathedrals after wars. I saw a photo of Notre Dame of Reims after the Second World War, it was a bombed out hulk, but you wouldn't know it today.

I've been to Notre Dame of Paris dozens of times, starting when I was 5 years old. Pre-dawn visits to this and other cathedrals have brought me as close to God as I can be. Even this atheist is deeply moved by stone walls and illuminated windows that, over centuries, have absorbed some of the faith, passion, suffering and grace of millions of humans living and long-passed. If you stand quietly and open yourself, you can't help but feel it.

I was sad to see the fire, but not devastated. The rebuilding of Notre Dame of Paris will be one of those missions that brings a nation, and others around the world, together in spirit and deeds. Which is really the ultimate purpose of cathedrals, after all.

I will be donating to the reconstruction. My little offering will join those of millions, wealthy and poor. I will be donating to Notre Dame, to Paris, to the people of France, and maybe a little bit to the God that I feel in these sacred places.

[Deschodt]

Well put. Same feeling word for word!

[Iciclehead]

Originally Posted by jyl

The apparent inaction in the first hour or so after the fire broke out was intentional. The Pompiers de Paris were saving the irreplaceable art and artifacts inside the cathedral, because they knew it would be destroyed by water etc once they started attacking the fire. Imagine going inside a burning cathedral, flaming debris falling from hundreds of feet, risking your life to save precious thousand year old objects. The courage of firefighters. Shown by NYFD on 9/11, by PDP on 4/15, and by firefighters every day the world over.

The cathedral has been intensively documented and will be rebuilt. Won't be the first time. The cathedral was restored in the 1800s by Violet-le-Duc, including a new spire. Europe has lots of experience rebuilding its glorious cathedrals after wars. I saw a photo of Notre Dame of Reims after the Second World War, it was a bombed out hulk, but you wouldn't know it today.

I've been to Notre Dame of Paris dozens of times, starting when I was 5 years old. Pre-dawn visits to this and other cathedrals have brought me as close to God as I can be. Even this atheist is deeply moved by stone walls and illuminated windows that, over centuries, have absorbed some of the faith, passion, suffering and grace of millions of humans living and long-passed. If you stand quietly and open yourself, you can't help but feel it.

I was sad to see the fire, but not devastated. The rebuilding of Notre Dame of Paris will be one of those missions that brings a nation, and others around the world, together in spirit and deeds. Which is really the ultimate purpose of cathedrals, after all.

I will be donating to the reconstruction. My little offering will join those of millions, wealthy and poor. I will be donating to Notre Dame, to Paris, to the people of France, and maybe a little bit to the God that I feel in these sacred places.

Very, very well and eloquently said.

I share your feelings and as a Christian being there brings a sense of peace and comfort even though it is "just" a building.

Dennis

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by jyl

The apparent inaction in the first hour or so after the fire broke out was intentional. The Pompiers de Paris were saving the irreplaceable art and artifacts inside the cathedral, because they knew it would be destroyed by water etc once they started attacking the fire. Imagine going inside a burning cathedral, flaming debris falling from hundreds of feet, risking your life to save precious thousand year old objects.

That's cool, I didn't think about it that way.

[Aerkuld]

This is cool - a 360 degree, zoomable image . . .

https://gigarama.ru/notredame/

When you look at the picture things don't seem too bad on the surface. The wooden roof was basically a waterproof cover over the stone ceiling. The stone ceiling is still mostly in place. Basically the 'cover' has burned away. Sure, it's an enormous amount of work to replace the roof, and who knows what the heat has done to the stonework, but it could have been a lot worse I guess. This helps to explain how most of the interior stayed in reasonable shape, and how much of the glass survived.

[Racerbvd]

[SoCal911T]

[Aerkuld]

SoCal911T - Thanks for those great pictures, it helps to understand how it was configured.
Funny, but looking at those I can almost smell an old oak-beamed attic!

[stuartj]

Igreja de São Domingos is a large church in Lisbon, dedicated in 1241. It was burnt in the 1950's. Here is what the interior of a stone church looks like afterwards. Its called the Melted Church - up close, many of the surfaces almost have a marshmellow look. Hopefully, the damage to Notre Dame, including the smoke and water damage, will largely be contained to the roof.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by Aerkuld

SoCal911T - Thanks for those great pictures, it helps to understand how it was configured.
Funny, but looking at those I can almost smell an old oak-beamed attic!

\\

Yes, great shots SoCal, thx. I dont think Id be alone in saying that I'd love to be able to properly be able to explore the crawl spaces, walkways and balconies of a grand catherdral. A long held ambition. Perhaps not while it was on fire though....

[996AE]

Awsome.

Thanks for posting those pics.

[Crowbob]

My hat to you, jyl.