The Fire of Notre Dame, The Tears of Paris
On April 15th, 6:50 p.m. local time, the Notre Dame cathedral caught fire. Parisians watched in horror as century old artworks were engulfed in flames and the spire of the cathedral came tumbling down.
The cathedral has been one of Paris’ focal points since 1260, almost a thousand years, and today it just fell apart. Fire officials think that the fire was linked to renovations in the building, and from the looks of it, burned up the entire building.
From the videos I’ve seen, it looks as though we’ll be lucky if the bare bones of the cathedral survive. Countless years of history, architecture, and artwork are lost. Where do we go from here?
Smoke rises around the altar in front of the cross inside the Notre Dame Cathedral as a fire continues to burn in Paris, France, April 16, 2019 - via CBS News
Will Paris rebuild the cathedral the way it was built, or will they do something similar to the Twin Towers and leave the rubble where it lies? Where does it leave Paris? The city was known for the Notre Dame cathedral, but now it doesn’t have one. It’s horrifying to see a thousand years of stories send smoke in the sky.
All we can do now is watch and mourn.
Cover image via WPTV