Notre Dame Cathedral

sivyaleah

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Those famous rose stained glass windows are gone. There were also large wooden statues that still had paint from the middle ages on them, I know they are gone. They couldn't be carried out and nothing wooden could possibly have survived.
Saw this morning, at least 3 of the windows are ok. Nearly all of the art work was saved. Much of it was already in storage due to the construction. Huge relief.

So devastating to see. I work in architecture - my entire office practically has been to Notre Dame - except one or two of us me included. My husband and I had been planning to go to Paris this year, but unfortunately life prevented us from planning it far enough in advance. It was incredibly painful to watch yesterday, however, somewhat of a small relief this morning to see the facade is standing and that it can and will be rebuilt. I saw that France's most wealthy citizen that owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and one of the big Champagne houses (forget his name off hand, and the Champagne shame on me) is donating over 200 million to the effort. I'm sure many more will lend their support as well including those around the world - St. Patrick's in NYC has already said they will fund raise to help as well.
 

Kat0121

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Saw this morning, at least 3 of the windows are ok. Nearly all of the art work was saved. Much of it was already in storage due to the construction. Huge relief.

So devastating to see. I work in architecture - my entire office practically has been to Notre Dame - except one or two of us me included. My husband and I had been planning to go to Paris this year, but unfortunately life prevented us from planning it far enough in advance. It was incredibly painful to watch yesterday, however, somewhat of a small relief this morning to see the facade is standing and that it can and will be rebuilt. I saw that France's most wealthy citizen that owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and one of the big Champagne houses (forget his name off hand, and the Champagne shame on me) is donating over 200 million to the effort. I'm sure many more will lend their support as well including those around the world - St. Patrick's in NYC has already said they will fund raise to help as well.
Bernard Arnault

Henri Pinault ( CEO of Kering and hubby of Salma Hayek) is donate $113 million to the restoration fund.
 

sivyaleah

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It broke my heart. I'm not a religious person by any stretch, but the history, the architecture. It is heart-breaking.
Same and Jewish no less. Being religious certainly is not a prerequisite to appreciating architecture be it religious or not. It's a remarkable feat of engineering and a huge loss. Some of the most memorable places I've been are Christian sites. Truly awe inspiring.
 

DreamerRose

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I suspect that on 9/11 they felt more like how we felt when the offices of Charlie Hebdo were shot up. This is a great tragedy, and we all feel the loss, but no one thinks it was deliberate. There's a qualitative difference between an accident and murder. In some ways it's easier to deal with an act of terrorism; we get angry, the anger has a specific focus, and then we can take it out on someone appropriate, say, Osama Bin Laden. The problem, of course, arises when we decide to take it out on someone who had nothing to do with it, all Muslims for example. With an accidental fire all we can do is mourn what we've lost and rebuild to the best of our ability. There's no good place to direct the anger, so we may turn it inward, which is a bad answer.

I wonder how long it will be until we know for sure how much was saved, and how strong the stones of the Cathedral are now that they've been damaged by fire.

Margret
Regardless of the cause, the similarity is that we feel grief for the loss of another country.
 

She's a witch

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Not only I'm not religious, I'm anti religious at times, and I think that the only truly good thing the Catholic church brought to this world is their medieval architecture, cathedrals, Notre Dame being one of the finest (although it was built at a great human cost, so hard to say it's a good thing..). I cried like a baby yesterday, it moved me so much. Even if it's restored, it's not the same, some things cannot be brought back. It managed to stand almost intact for several hundreds year and got damaged in one evening.

Re 9/11 analogy - to me it feels totally different, there were so many people that died there in the indescribable circumstances caused by terror and sheer evil, and my emotional focus was for these people, I hardly thought about the building itself... Here, luckily it's only building that I mourn, and it's totally different kind of mourning.

And personally I also don't see it as a national loss, it's a loss to the whole humanity. There are not that many great medieval building left in the World, after all.
 

aliceneko

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I'm a practicing member of the Church of England (Anglicanism) and a regular visitor to France and have always been interested in French culture and society; so I was heartbroken by the news. I agree that one doesn't have to be connected to any particular religion to feel moved by the news. Many people across the world have been visibly upset by the images and don't practice any religion particularly at all. The Notre Dame is one of the most important attractions in Paris and is also one of the most important buildings and religious sites of Western culture. It's nearly 900 years old and has seen the Reformation, two World Wars including a Nazi occupation, coronations, several revolutions and uprisings, and more... to see it in flames made my stomach turn.
BUT the Notre Dame has remained safe inside including all the religious artefacts, relics and important paintings and sculptures. I also think one of the main things is that no lives were lost. Whilst it won't be the same, Notre Dame's spire and roof can be rebuilt, but if there were lives lost we'd never have gotten them back so I'm grateful no humans were harmed during this tragedy.

In other related news; an investigation with 50 team members has opened to determine the cause of the fire, which some think could be arson started by an anti-Catholic protestor as there has been a surge of anti-Catholic related violence in France and the Netherlands over the past month. (But this has now been ruled out by the team.)
 

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THE SEINE: APRIL 15, 2019
by Lee Gold, Copyright Lee Gold, 4-15-2019
to the tune of "The Seine"
For the tune, see:

The first time I saw Paris, the city lights were bright.
The Quasimodo Gift Shop was shining in the night.
I walked along the river, and I saw it gently flow.
And looked at all the wonders that I'd read about so long ago.

The Seine! The Seine!
If I should come again​
Will I see her there? Will she greet me there
On the gentle banks of the Seine?​

I walked beside the river, while the sun shone in the sky,
The stained glass windows sparkled like rainbows up on high.
Their light drowned out the clatter — and everything was calm
As I stood there silently inside Cathedral Notre Dame.

The Seine! The Seine!
If I should come again​
Will I see her there? Will she greet me there
On the gentle banks of the Seine?​

Now I've seen the fires burning, and my eyes are full of tears.
I've heard that they'll rebuild her, but I know it will take years.
I may not see her rise again, but years cannot erase
The memories I treasure of beauty, glory and of grace.

The Seine! The Seine!
If I should come again​
She will meet me there. She will greet me there
On the gentle banks of the Seine.​
I wouldn't be posting this without the permission of the author. Please note that, while I'm including her copyright notice, the reason she gave me permission to post it here is that she hopes someone here can send it to someone in France, who may be comforted by it.

Margret
 

Margret

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Notre Dame took two centuries to build. Master craftsmen devoted their entire lives to this single project, and taught their sons, who devoted their lives to it, all the time knowing that they wouldn't live long enough to see it completed. For all of that to have been destroyed, accidentally, in a single night would have been intolerable. I'm so very glad that so much has been saved.

I heard this morning that only one of the rose windows was lost (I don't know which one). I would think that there should be no problem duplicating it.

Margret
 
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denice

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I saw the picture of the inside of the church this morning. All that fire damage and that huge gold cross was still over the alter. At least from the distance it still had that luster that only comes from high quality gold.
 

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Flames cause 'colossal damages' to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Macron says 'we will rebuild'


Additionally, I've been told that so far the rose window above the altar is intact. (Note: this is hearsay.) Also, many of the statues and other removable pieces of artwork had already been taken out to protect them during the spire restoration, and firefighters did what they could to protect the rest of the building, to give people time to remove more of the artwork. It appears that the destruction isn't as total as it appeared at first glance.

Margret
Yes, the BBC reported this morning that sixteen statues needing repair had been removed previous to the fire, thankfully. Those windows though :( So gorgeous and total one-offs. It broke my heart to see this as it was happening [on television; I wasn't there]. I can't imagine how broken hearted were the Parisians and holiday-makers were to be there as it went up. And here before Easter! Mind, I am pagan, but I love the the things of all religions and respect them.... and this was something you can never truly replace. My heart is in Paris for all and as someone said above, although I'm not quoting exactly, Notre Dame is a world treasure indeed. Workmanship, love, and dedication doesn't get much finer than this. Blessings to the the lovely men and women of the fire brigades who worked tirelessly to put out the flames as soon as possible to salvage what they could.
 

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They say there is only minor structural damage to the stone parts, but of course the wooden beams are totally destroyed. And they won't be able to replace them because there aren't enough 400-year-old oaks on the planet (which is upsetting on a few different levels), so they'll have to use more modern materials to rebuild. It sounds like they're getting plenty of donations though.

I hate to see any of the really old buildings being damaged :(.
 

DreamerRose

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The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is a fascinating novel about the building of a great cathedral. I read it some time ago, but the details shed some light about what happened to Notre Dame, if anyone is interested.

It's amazing that the gold cross and the glass windows didn't melt.

I heard on TV this morning that someone, not too long ago, took 3-D pictures of everything in the cathedral, millimeter by millimeter. So the information is there for reconstruction.
 

Mia6

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The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is a fascinating novel about the building of a great cathedral. I read it some time ago, but the details shed some light about what happened to Notre Dame, if anyone is interested.

It's amazing that the gold cross and the glass windows didn't melt.

I heard on TV this morning that someone, not too long ago, took 3-D pictures of everything in the cathedral, millimeter by millimeter. So the information is there for reconstruction.
I love anything by him. Thanks!
 

Margret

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They say there is only minor structural damage to the stone parts, but of course the wooden beams are totally destroyed. And they won't be able to replace them because there aren't enough 400-year-old oaks on the planet (which is upsetting on a few different levels), so they'll have to use more modern materials to rebuild.
You're correct that the lack of old oaks is deeply disturbing, but even if they were available I believe that they'd do better to use more modern (read "fireproof") materials in the reconstruction. Also, I'd hate to see all those old trees cut down.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is a fascinating novel about the building of a great cathedral. I read it some time ago, but the details shed some light about what happened to Notre Dame, if anyone is interested.
Didn't Kipling write something about this, as well? One of the people the children met in either, um, Puck of Pook's Hill or Rewards and Fairies, available for free here: Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling and here: Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling.

Margret
 
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denice

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It looks like initial pledges are going to come to right at a billion dollars. Hopefully when the rebuild is done they will install a comprehensive sprinkler system. The National Cathedral in Washington is having one put in and they are about 80% finished with it. I think St Patrick's in New York was also working on one, I don't know if it is complete. I know the burning of candles and incense could possibly cause a sprinkler to go off if it isn't done right but that would be better then what has happened here.
 
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