Grateful that more of Notre Dame seems to be intact than I initially expected when I first saw the flames.
Pledges have been pouring in to help rebuild the cathedral. I imagine renovations will be done in a thoughtful manner.
Some photos and floor plans showing what was damaged and what was spared/saved:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47943705
The French firefighters did a great job.
Hopefully the roof will be rebuilt using steel, not wood. The photos I saw this morning show that the rose windows and the organ are intact. So the damage is not as bad as I had feared.
Just watched the news. Scaffolding already set up around the remaining structure. Fabulous donations coming in for this rebuilding. This is sad…but other historic structures have burned and been rebuilt. This will be too.
The statues that escaped the fire:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/arts/notre-dame-statues.html
What miraculous timing!
So horrible! I saw the news footage of the steeple collapsing!
I came across this YouTube video from CBS news made a year ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUVKcVSpg44
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is falling apart
Seems we don’t know what we have until it is gone.
Would the very high temps of the fire impact the integrity of the remaining structure at all?
Here is how they will know how to rebuild Notre Dame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAi29udFMKw
a youtube of the process of the scanning.
Sadly Andrew Tallon won’t see how his work will be used. He died at the age of 49.
Yes, French news announced we’ll only know tomorrow how bad the damage is and whether some parts of the structure are more damaged than previously thought.
The organ was saved - the pipes didn’t melt and the wood system didn’t combust - but the pipes are full of ashes and will be individually removed and cleaned.
Update: President Macron said he wanted the cathedral rebuilt in 5 years’time.
A team of 50 is investigating. It looks like it was a short circuit under the roofrafters might be to blame. No worker was on site when the fire started but all have been thoroughly interviewed.
A fire alarm rang during evening mass and security went to investigate the area they were pointed to but saw nothing. Apparently (unconfirmed) at that point there was heat but no fire. 20mn later the alarm rang, this time for flames.
You can try checking TV5Monde, they have specials.
@abasket any way to access that article about the statues. Your link is behind a paywall.
I tried to post a couple key paragraphs but TOS may not allow that. We shall see. Sorry if it’s not ok!
@thumper1, while NYT is behind a paywall, you can register for an account and get 10 articles for free each month.
I’ve used my 10 freebies this month
I thrilled that the grand organ survived. It is such a magnificent instrument. One of the best in the world.
They are considering a modern spire! Oh, no.
The old spire was kind of awful, did not fit with the rest of the architecture. I’m
not sure modern is the right answer, but just replicating the old one isn’t, either. I saw some amazing footage of the firefighting yesterday, especially the robot they sent into the nave with a water canon. (Sorry, don’t have the links - I think it was a Global News clip).
I agree. I never liked the spire but hopefully not another Louvre pyramid.
People ae posting on facebook that the Catholic church has plenty of $$ in their coffers to handle the repairs, and donations might be better directed elsewhere (like to support organizations for the survivors of sexual abuse by clergy). Interesting thought