Apparently the fire started just under the roof around 6:50 PM local (7:38 PM now), and is not under control yet.

I really hope firemen will save this monument.

Sorry for the pic quality, my connection is bad.

gonna be years to rebuild and restore it. Decades even.

That is really terrible. My guess would be an electrical fire.


I read that there was recent renovation work done on the church. Maybe it's related?

That is truly a shame.

It is the current supposition, but nothing more than a supposition.

A shame.

News so far, seems to be reported nobody died. Hopefully true.

It took 200 years to build and hours to render in to a shell so sad to see.

I visited it in 1966,

now they are evacuating the rest of the island where the Notre Dame is.

So tragic, can't replace everything that was destroyed.

Tragic.

Terrible. Iconic building.

Hmmm.

https://www.newsweek.com/spate-atta...-altars-desecrated-christ-statue-1370800

A bit premature to start that kind of speculation, Crane. So far they think it's related to the renovation work that was being done. We may never know for sure, considering the intensity of the fire. Right now my biggest question is how they're going to remove that scaffolding. It must be compromised. I'm surprised it didn't collapse.

It is sad to see. These things do happen but it feels somewhat suspect to me. I hope it was not intentional.

CATHOLIC CHURCHES ARE BEING DESECRATED ACROSS FRANCE—AND OFFICIALS DON’T KNOW WHY

Wild guess???

The "princes of the church" have been abusing children for entertainment for centuries. Might just deserve some payback, either Karma or a pissed off individual.

I am sorry about the damage to Notre Dame, and it's historical treasures, regardless of the whacko wierdos in that little slum in Rome....think about it. Not only in the context of celibacy in the FIRST century, but lets slow forward it to the Twenty First Century.

That’s enough. Community Hall is not the place to air your political views or opinions. Don’t do it again.

I am truly sad I never got to see the Cathedral.

Maybe build a cube this time?

All I could think was "Noooooo"

Really..noo

What an awful loss for humanity.

I have been there several times and to me the greatest shame is the destruction of the marvellous stained glass windows. It was a lot more than a Church, though it was that, but also a great work of art. The successive French governments of the past 50 years have much to answer for in terms of essential maintenance neglected. At least the spire "only" dated from 1831 and can be replaced. There is much that cannot though.

Disheartening news.
Looking across the Seine River towards Notre Dame should be on everyone's "Parisian routine". It was always on mine, particularly in the evening !

There is no doubt the cathedral will be rebuilt, while most of the most valuable relics have apparently been moved right on time.
Some are already raising concerns on the eventual rebuilt and its acoustic. A choral performed at Notre Dame may never sound the same ever again :-/
Not much news about the "Le Grand Orgue de Notre Dame". Has it survived the fire ? Probably not.
It was majestic.

Cheers anyway,
Slug

Saw photos of the main hall this morning. Surprised to see as much remaining as there was (compared to other cathedral fire photos I've seen). The rear area looked like a good bit of water and smoke damage, but hopefully plenty of room to salvage a good bit of antiquity, instead of it's total loss.

Saw it in '77. Really sad about this. The stained glass windows were/ are exceptional.

I'm waiting for the architect's report, especially to know exactly what is the damage on the stone structure.

But they said until now:

- Glass windows are still there, probably damage as junctions with stone wall are made with lead, plus soot.
- The "Grand Orgue" did not burn, but it took water and soot, probably damaged.
- A part of the nave collapsed
- Obviously, the framework and the roof are totaly destroyed.

Sorry about going off the rails, as this a cultural tragedy.

I wasn't political, it was personal. Still, no excuse.

Lots of money pouring in. To bad it is after the disaster.

Yes, glad to see wealthy people stepping up instead of sitting back and saying, "Gee, I hope they'll rebuild it." These are people who have visited many times because they could afford to. Having them immediately accept the responsibility that comes with that wealth restores my faith in humanity, to a degree.

i heard they are raising up 800 million euros for the reconstruction...excuse me ? what is that building made of , vibranium ?
For that price they could build a new one and a small replica,too bad no one cares for the penny condition of museums and heritage untill something happen.

The ever-vigilant cynic in me says that these billionaires and millionaires who have pledged donations are doing it for the great public relations bump. Nothing is ever truly free.

Its extremely labor and research intensive when a lot of the construction is going to be utilizing original techniques where practical, as is customary when restoring historic structures..

Labor, yes. Research, I'm not so sure. Given the fame of the building, I would imagine there isn't much not already known and easily accessed about it.

Apparently the game "Assassins Creed" contains a very accurate record of the interior, usable in the restoration.

WOW, just watched it again tonight. Unreal.

A decision is going to need to be made as to whether they restore it to its last representation which was an 1800's restoration, or to the original building style as it was built some 800 years ago.

They might not be as committed to replicating an earlier state as one might expect.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/46083/france-will-host-international-design-competition-emily-zanotti

That appears to just be about the spire, so maybe the cathedral internals will be more of a restoration, if it is possible.

Wild that this took over a hundred years to build. Nowdays, we put up skyscrapers in a few years. I doubt though, that such craftmanship as seen in this and other gothic works, is possible in modern times.

And, there wasn't any computers around to help with the designing of the structure.

If any are interested, Middle Age Architecture: How the great cathedrals were built - Documentary

My son said the same thing last night, Blast. But, as I reminded him, doing that kind of stone work by hand takes time. I don't think the average person considers that very much. Too spoiled by what one man with a hydraulic machine can do. But to lift thousand-pound blocks with timber and rope hoists... just to build the hoists, for that matter...takes time. And as you mentioned, the intricate carvings done by hand, are also very time consuming.

I'm sure most of you here know it, but I found Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" very interesting when it came to descriping (obviously not in a fully documentary way) how a cathedral was built, and the finer nuances of how to manage all that weight and static calculations. Pretty impressive indeed in a world without computers.

I’ve read that too. It was very interesting and I learned a lot of things I had not even considered. It made me understand some of the architectural techniques.

Thee is such national and civic identity tied up here, it's hard to really gauge the loss.

The National Cathedral in Washington DC was started in 1907 under President Teddy Roosevelt and completed in 1990 under President George H.W Bush.
Stone work even in the 20th century takes a long time and a whole lot of money.