Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris

Arts & Culture History
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The very history iconic spire at the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has collapsed after a major fire broke out Monday. Very sad news!
Notre Dame fire: What we know

  • A major fire erupted at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris Monday.
  • The cathedral, which was undergoing renovations, suffered extensive damage.
  • Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the fire.
  • No deaths have been reported.
  • Notre Dame construction began in 1163 and was completed in 1345.

“Everything is burning, nothing will remain from the frame,” Notre Dame spokesperson Andre Finot told French media, according to the Associated Press. By Monday evening, Paris fire chief Jean-Claude Gallet told reporters he believes firefighters have managed to save the cathedral’s landmark rectangular towers from the blaze.

Gallet said, “We now believe that the two towers of Notre Dame have been saved,” Reuters news agency reported. “We now consider that the main structure of Notre Dame has been saved and preserved.” There was still a risk that some of the interior structures could collapse, he said.

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Who could have known the script of “before sunrise” will turn out this way..

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**The entire wooden interior of Notre Dame Cathedral has been lost!**

**A “forest” of wooden latticework inside Notre Dame Cathedral fueled the fire that consumed the iconic church.

The medieval roof structure “has been lost,” according to Monsignor Patrick Chauvet, the rector of the cathedral.

The cathedral’s wooden frame, which primarily consisted of oak, contains beams that date as far back as the first frame built for the cathedral. That frame featured trees cut down between 1160 and 1170, forming one of the oldest parts of the structure.**
This is what makes Notre Dame cathedral so iconic

**Most of the current frame dates from the year 1220, according to the church’s website. The modern frame is the second frame, and reflects adjustments made early in the cathedral’s construction process.

The prevailing Gothic style called for high vaulted ceilings. To accommodate this, the cathedral’s plans required tall, sturdy oaks from a nearby forest.

To kick off the project, workers cleared 21 hectares of oak. Each beam of the intricate wooden cross-work was drawn from a different tree: estimated at 13,000 trees in total. To reach the heights the carpenters needed to build the structure, those trees would likely have been 300 or 400 years old, meaning they would have sprouted out of the ground in the eighth or ninth centuries.**

**The beams formed one of the oldest structures in Paris.

The dimensions of the framework are soaring: 100 meters long and 10 meters high. At the nave of the church, the frame is 13 meters wide, and at the transept it’s 10 meters high, the church’s website says.

During the Middle Ages, the carpenters first built the frame on the ground to get the dimensions and structure right. Then workers would have disassembled the frame, hoisting it up with lifting gear to the ceiling, where it would have been reassembled. Once in place, the beams extended toward the heavens at steep 55-degree angles.**

**To bad never had a chance to visit the Cathedral! :bummer: **

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visited this place few years ago, sad to know its been partially destroyed by fire.