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Fire breaks out at Notre Dame cathedral, developing situation [Update: major structural collapse - Art and other Assets Saved] (See Staff Post)
- Thread starter Smokeymicpot
- Start date
The spire, including the statues, were added in the middle of the 19th century about 60 years after the French Revolution.
Indeed.
I think it's important to remember here that buildings like those don't survive simply because they are well built. All of them have gone through disasters. They survive (at least partially) because people care enough to repair them as well as they can.
Another shot from inside:
I am not a man of faith, but the image of the cross standing next to the still smoking remains sure is a powerful image
I know it's absurd... but look at the burnt out balcony on the upper right, and now note that there are apparently still candles on the candleabras by the alter.Another shot from inside:
Another shot from inside:
As bad as that is, I'm amazed at how much is still intact. I'm hopeful that much of it can be salvaged.
Still beautiful, I really hope the main structure has remained structurally sound enough to keep it that way. No way it won't be restored if it's still holding up as well as the pictures seem to imply.
The cross is still standing, beautiful :
I can already tell that this is going to be an image used for years to come. I'm nowhere near religious and I can see just how powerful it is.
Looked at the wiki
It reminds me of Anor Londo in the souls games.
Anor Londo very much draws on the gothic architecture that influenced the design of Cathedrals like Notre Dame
Also +1 to the sheer power of that cross image.
It will never not feel weird to me to see people being impressed by the most simple forms of (probably coincidental) symbolism.
Looked at the wiki
It reminds me of Anor Londo in the souls games.
Was talking with an architect friend just an hour ago, this was one of his favourite buildings ever and told me these buttresses are what saved the whole cathedral structure and interior, made the stone roof of the inside withstand the wooden part collapsing because of the fire.
This were made to witchstand the weight of the structure as they had to make the walls have the inmense holes to put he giant stained glass.
That is a very powerful image for sure. The imagery of the Cross amidst all the rubble and wreckage.Another shot from inside:
Still, I am amazed at how much is left, I thought it would be nothing but a charred husk. Especially when looking back at the aerial photos that the Drone's took earlier of the top of it all:
Anor Londo seems to be something of a mishmash of several real-life cathedrals and other buildings (the Milan Cathedral in particular serving as a big inspiration if I am not mistaken). The interior (or at least the famous "try jumping off" staircase) looks to be a direct copy of the staircase in Château de Chambord:Looked at the wiki
It reminds me of Anor Londo in the souls games.
Another shot from inside:
I know it's almost certainly statues and/or shadows from the firefighters, but there are some freaky ass shadows lurking towards the back of this picture..
yes, exactly
this is what the parthenon looked like in the 1830s, long abandoned after a gunpowder cache exploded inside it centuries ago, the frieze looted by lord elgin's agents, the grounds used as a location for a mosque (a very interesting part of its storied history)
this is what you see if you visit athens today, reconstructed from the ruins and fragment dug up on the acropolis
I was in Paris in October. One night I was out drinking with some friends, and it was getting late, so I needed to get back to my hotel in Montmartre. Rather than get a taxi, I opted for a Mobike (I already had an active account due to living in Shanghai). As I rode back to the hotel, and I crossed over the Seine, I glanced left and right to cross the road, and to my surprise there was the Notre Dame right beside me, sitting there peacefully as it had for 900 years prior. While crossing the bridge, I just stared at it, and wondered how many others, just like me, looked at this amazing structure creep up on them in the darkness.
I have no idea why I found this simple moment so profound, but I did. It's really sad to see the damage it's suffered.
I have no idea why I found this simple moment so profound, but I did. It's really sad to see the damage it's suffered.
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In the end most of that powerful fire that looked like lava at some point seems to have being contained on top of the stone arches and that made the main hall only partially destroyed.
The cross is still standing, beautiful :
the limestone roof only collapsed under the spire. The fire burned the wooden roof and it fell on the rock bed but it never made it under. Unbelievable. We can clearly see that there were minimal fire damage inside (beside the part of the collapsed spire...
The cathedral in Cologne had direct hits 14 times
Yeah, those pictures made it look totally fucked, but it looks like the charred parts are so close to the top because it was the wooden parts of the roof collapsing on to the stone ceiling.
Many of the major ones were saved, it sounds like, but at least some of the stuff was water damaged or crushed by the dome collapse. I'd imagine the wooden panel decorations were too big to evacuate and are pretty damaged by the water.
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That is very commendable bravery done to save a huge part of history and culture. I find this very touching.
You'd think maybe the ultra rich Catholic church would foot the bill, but I guess that's a big ask.
They refuse to pay for normal maintenance as they are supposed to, so i would not count on it.
could this event lead to a Gothic Revival in architecture from what we saw during the Victorian era?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Revival_architecture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Revival_architecture
I was going to say that I would think there have to be at least a handful of billionaires out there that would donate to help pay for the reconstruction.
Hell I'm willing to bet if they set up a GoFundMe or something along those lines they'd get at least 10+ million just from regular people all around the world wanting to help. I'd definitely chip in a few paltry dollars.
Theoretically, once they clean the inside and make sure everything is structurally sound, they could just reopen, and in the meantime start rebuilding the roof, no?
Theoretically, sure, but I don't imagine they'd let anyone near the big hole, as that probably won't ever be deemed sound until there are significant repairs. . Like some of the entrances, maybe, but not for like mass.
There's also a problem of smoke damage and how safe it would be to spend significant time around there.
I'm not sure... They'll have to take away first all the pieces of charred wood up there, and make sure that the stone archs didn't sustain major damage.
Plus, when evaluating and rebuilding, the risk of something falling on a tourist is far too high to risk it. From that height, its an assured death.
They'll probably have to repair it in parts, and keep people out from the part they're working on.
I'd be down with this, if only for the 40k related memes
I wish I could agree with you, but the chapter in the hunchback of Notre Dame describing how architecture was the means of preserving knowledge before the invention of the printing press makes it clear that so much has been lost in this fire. I am glad that I got to visit while it was still in it's prime.