Notre Dame Cathedral In Paris Is On Fire
Meh. As far as I know, no one was hurt. (However, if someone was hurt/killed, then this is tragic event).
They will rebuilt this to near a perfect match to what it was before. Many aspects of the building have been rebuilt in the past 40 years. I believe the spire is one of them. So in a sense, the building as it was just before the fire was not 800 years old.
If you ever go to Japan, many of the prefecture castles are many centuries old and several were destroyed during the war. Osaka castle was rebuilt as a near perfect replica and you wouldn’t have none the difference if someone didn’t tell you otherwise.
No doubt this sucks from a several perspectives, but as long as no one was hurt, all is fine.
Dude, the age of the building itself is part of its magnificence. Rebuilding it brick for brick, even if possible (some of the construction techniques are lost to history) is not the same thing.
Well ok then. No one is denying that. Much of what you see today is restored recently (some as recent as the 1980s/1990s). No one cared then.
As I mentioned, this no doubt sucks. But the greater importance is no one was hurt/killed (as far as current reports are telling me).
Much of what you see today is restored recently (some as recent as the 1980s/1990s).
There has been minor restorative work, yes (like with any old building), but that's all. Other than the spire which was added in the 19th century, the "bones" of this structure were never really replaced. The wood in the ceiling that caused the flames to spread so rapidly literally dated from the 13th century.
Many aspects of the building have been rebuilt in the past 40 years. I believe the spire is one of them.
The last significant renovation of the building occurred over 150 years ago by Viollet-le-Duc, and even that was only a partial reconstruction. Much of the building legitimately dated to medieval times.
Strongly disagree. Being upset at history going up in flames and being able to make a joke about it are not mutually exclusive.
When I first saw the image I was saddened because of the pure history and beauty of this and knowing the loss, then reading a few of the jokes made me smile. Humor (when not mean spirited or malicious) is actually good for the soul.
Officials in Paris said the fire could be linked to restoration works as the peak of the church is currently undergoing a 6 million-euro ($6.8 million) renovation project.
I sure hope that construction company is bonded.
Spartans burn couches, Notre Dame burns cathedrals.
Rich Rod said leave him out of this
The way the French still smoke cigarettes, I'm betting a dozen of the finest croissants it was a flicked butt on the roof.
Mon Dieu. What a loss.
If they want to salvage this building they need to start air dropping immediately.
That's what mystifies me...surely they have firefighting aircraft and choppers in that country.
That being said there must some sort of mad scramble going on down on the main floor to try to get some of the artwork. Aside from the building itself, there are probably many priceless masterpieces inside.
I heard that many of the works of art had been moved out prior to the renovations-- I hope this is true.
The weight of the water will do more damage than good at this point.
Yeah, let's quick fill up an aircraft with a bazillion pounds of water and drop it on a 900 year old building... What could go wrong?
Nevermind the logistical challenges of flying a large cargo aircraft, heavily laden with water, at a relatively low altitude, through a densely populated, metropolitan area. Just a few problems that I can foresee...
This is nonsense.
This is terrible. I go to Paris several times a year and I'm always in awe of Notre Dame. Its a truly magnificent structure.
Me and the wife are going in July. I'm pretty bummed as this is what i wanted to see the most. Any recommendations/tips (we are gonna get skip the line passes) for first timers?
If you want to see other medieval church architecture in the Paris region, the basilica of Saint-Denis is also quite good (it's where all the kings of France are buried) although it's outside the city. Also, the Sainte-Chapelle (in the center of town) is gorgeous.
Good news is that beautiful cathedrals are all over France and you can some really great ones in Paris but Notre Dame is the biggest and grandest of all.
Yeah, there are other cathedrals across the country (Amiens, Chartres, Reims are also really famous) which largely follow the same Gothic design. Some have even fancier stonework. But the one in Paris is special for its location and history.
I had the chance to visit but did not get to see the view from the tower. I was hoping to do that another time. What a shame.
Second the recommendation for the cathedral in Chartres. We did both Notre Dame and Chartres last September, and in addition to it not being as crowded, I found Chartres more fascinating (and the city is a great day trip from Paris).
Despite what’s happening to Notre Dame cathedral, there’s lot of stuff to see and do for first timers. Many are quite obvious and you are probably planning to see anyway (ie Eiffel Tower, Arc de Trmp, Louve, etc).
But if you get a chance, I recommend going to the famous cemetery, Pierre le Chaise. Jim Morrison, Proust and others are buried there.
Le sacre coeur, centre pompidou, pantheon, musee dorsay, and military museum besides the obvious sites.
Sacre Coeur was stunning... and the views from there, wow.
Probably check out National Lampoon’s European Vacation. The club Clark and Ellen went to when they spotted Rusty with a hooker looks pretty fun.
Oink, oink, my good man!
I was a little disappointed when I saw the make-shift bleachers they put up outside of it. Didn't realize churches were a spectator sport.
Wow...this is awful to watch. It does not look like they have any chance of getting this under control.
This is the one time I'm pulling for Notre Dame
I pray that no one gets hurt.
I was there last July. It's an amazing place and I'm so sad about this. I hope they can limit the damage but it doesn't look good
It's gonna burn pretty much to the ground.
It's a horrible cultural loss.
While the nature of the event is obviously entirely different, and apparently with no loss of life, I think seeing this building go down is going to be as traumatic for the French as it was for us seeing the WTC collapse. There's something dramatically terrible about seeing huge, iconic buildings fall.
Agree Don. Can't imagine making jokes about the WTC burning or this.
Unless it turns out that this fire was set by terrorists (no reason to think that) it is not remotely comparable.
Well this isn't a terror attack (though Paris has had those too) and thankfully doesn't seem to have killed anyone, but as a cultural loss this is giant, far bigger than the WTC which was a pair of 30-year-old buildings.
The Notre Dame cathedral, completed in 1260, has been an iconic part of the French national identity for 759 years.
The World Trade Center (which was never regarded as notable for its architectural design other than for its height) stood for 28 years.
Now go ahead and tell us how the destruction of Notre Dame isn't going to be as traumatic for the French as losing the WTC was for us.
I would assume for those who hold religion as important, the 2,996 lost souls.
What a stupid comment. Do you think that religion defines a person's ability to recognize tragedy?
And how were their souls were lost, exactly?
April 15th, 2019 at 11:19 PM ^
Wow .....somebody got triggered.
A) No but religion is supposed to teach you that life has more value than a shelter: and
#2) they sre "souls" which we "lost".
Time for you to loosen that sphincter there tunneler.
It's a building. I get it, it is really iconic, important, historical building that is part of their cultural and religious identity, but I think the whole "not having thousands of people dying in the worst way imaginable in an intentional act" factor kind of outweighs those other factors.
Losing the WTC wasn’t even remotely traumatic for me. Having terrorists who enbody evil murder thousands of innocent people was traumatic.
The Notre Dame fire is sad, but for a completely different reason.
April 15th, 2019 at 10:47 PM ^
she may not regret anything, but i regret that she didn't spend more time and attention on singing lessons.
Are you being serious? What an awful fucking take. Nobody cares about the buildings of the WTC on anywhere near the same scale obviously, but the implication of the attack, the terror of it all, and most importantly the 3,000 people killed (not to mention their thousands and thousands of friends, relatives, loved ones, etc.) makes Notre Dame burning look like a swing-set at a local playground burning down.
Unless it turns out that this fire was set by terrorists (no reason to think that) it is not remotely comparable.
EDIT. I think this is my first double post. Feels great.