Notre-Dame is burning!

[Zkribbler]

France 24 just reported, through a church official, that all the artwork has been saved!

Almost too good to believe.

 

[Colon]

Did it contain a lot of fine woodwork, the pulpit perhaps? Other than that I guess it's probably mostly a matter of accounting for the artwork now.

A few decades ago there was a major blaze in a large baroque church in my city. As with Notre Dame it tore down the roof. You wouldn't really tell the fire had happened when you visit it today, and even the delicate woodwork has been restored/replaced.
So the whole thing may yet be salvagable here.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

That can't be correct at all. For starters even the Eiffel tower is probably visited more. Then there are other stuff like the Acropolis.
I have once modelled the Notre Dame. It has historic value, yet the actual spire is less than impressive. It isn't on a monumental scale either - you can fit the entire thing inside the Hagia Sophia, using mostly the space below the central dome.
There are more impressive gothic cathedrals, including a number of other french ones. Old monuments tend to collapse from time to time, and as noted a lot of the parts are by now from more modern periods.

I think you are not aware of how massive a typical gothic cathedral and notre-dame in particular is:128 meter long x 48 width x 69 height without counting the now gone spire, while Hagia Sophia is 82x73x55, in fact smaller in all dimmensions but width. Hagia Sophia was larger than most gothic cathedrals only in usable interior surface iirc, at least until the cathedral of Sevilla was built.

 

[Marla_Singer]

I'm just coming back from there. It’s in ruins. Nothing but the stones remains.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

I'm just coming back from there. It’s in ruins. Nothing but the stones remains.

Well, that is terrible. Is the structure fine at least?

 

[Kyriakos]

I think you are not aware of how massive a typical gothic cathedral and notre-dame in particular is:128 meter long x 48 width x 69 height without counting the now gone spire, while Hagia Sophia is 82x73x55, in fact smaller in all dimmensions but width. Hagia Sophia was larger than most gothic cathedrals only in usable interior surface iirc, at least until the cathedral of Sevilla was built.

Height is counted for the thin spire in the case of the (sadly now gone?) Notre Dame, ie it is a lot shorter if you go by (at least) the towers. The Hagia Sophia is far bulkier in all directions, including a vast pendentive dome. The two buildings are just not comparable scale-wise.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Height is counted for the thin spire in the case of the (sadly now gone?) Notre Dame, ie it is a lot shorter if you go by (at least) the towers. The Hagia Sophia is far bulkier in all directions, including a vast pendentive dome.

No, counting spire height it is 90 meters. The massive twin towers are 69.

 

[Gelion]

I'm just coming back from there. It’s in ruins. Nothing but the stones remains.

I am very very sorry to hear that.... Its an apocalyptic loss, but at least a part was saved. This shook me deeply, but I treat it as a reminder to treat life a little more seriously and to try to do my best where I can.

 

[Kyriakos]

^Well, good for them then. Anyway rip. Not the thread for this to go on

 

[Birdjaguar]

I'm just coming back from there. It’s in ruins. Nothing but the stones remains.

Any cause yet?

 

[Lexicus]

Any update on whether most of the art was removed from the inside? @Cheetah ?

 

[lymond]

This is just devastating

 

[Kyriakos]

What about external ornaments like (gargoyle) statues? Going by the pic one has to suppose all the gargoyles are ruined (if not actually collapsed and broken).

 

[Gelion]

What about external ornaments like (gargoyle) statues? Going by the pic one has to suppose all the gargoyles are ruined (if not actually collapsed and broken).

...

Also there are multiple reports of some of the art either being saved right now or having been removed from the Cathedral for renovation.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Quelle horreur!

 

[Cheetah]

Any update on whether most of the art was removed from the inside? @Cheetah ?

It all seems to be based on that one tweet from French journalist Nicolas Delesalle, but I haven't heard anyone correcting him yet, so it seems valid still.

So I've gathered the following:

1. Some of the outer art and decorations had already been removed before starting the restoration on the roof
2. While the fire was hard to deal with initially, firemen managed to save much (most?) of the treasures inside
3. The structure of the cathedral seems to have been saved

 

[Lexicus]

• • While the fire was hard to deal with initially, firemen managed to save much (most?) of the treasures inside

  • The structure of the cathedral seems to have been saved

This is very good to hear.

 

[Cheetah]

Think we'll have to wait until tomorrow to get a full picture of the status of everything, but it does look like a salvageable situation.

The greatest losses seems to be:

1. One heavily injured firefighter
2. The wooden roof, which was original from the 13th Century
3. The coloured glass reliefs
4. The spire, which was from the mid-19th Century

 

[Akka]

I've just spent a effing bad evening. As someone who holds history and culture as the soul of mankind, this is just a big punch in the gut. Nearly broken in tears when I heard the structure was probably safe. Still soul-crushing to see so much go in smoke.

A few decades ago there was a major blaze in a large baroque church in my city. As with Notre Dame it tore down the roof. You wouldn't really tell the fire had happened when you visit it today, and even the delicate woodwork has been restored/replaced.
So the whole thing may yet be salvagable here.

The thing is, of course they can restore it like that. But it'll be a restoration, not the original. This cathedral was not only exceptional due to its beauty, but also because, precisely, it had gone through centuries avoiding exactly this kind of catastrophe and was mostly "from back then" (some part, like the spire, were actually more recent, which help when seeing it crashing down). The glass panels were (and perhaps still are, if the bell towers are safe enough) straight from XIIIth century !
This building managed to get through centuries of warfare, the whole siege of 1871, the Commune, both World War... and goes up in flame because of a effing renovation accident ? That's a cruel joke...

So anyway, I feel mildly sick and I'm going to have a bad night.

 

[CPWimmer]

Take a look at this image from the thread in the Civ 6 forum, Spoiler warning it is NOT good.

Notre Dame on fire.