"Notre-Dame cathedral, the symbol of the beauty and history of Paris, was scarred by an extensive fire on Monday evening that caused its delicate spire to collapse, bruised the Parisian skies with smoke...
The spectacle of flames leaping from the cathedral’s wooden roof — its spire glowing red then turning into a virtual cinder — stunned thousands of onlookers who gathered along the banks of the Seine and packed into the plaza of the nearby Hôtel de Ville, gasping and covering their mouths in horror and wiping away tears....“It’s apocalyptic,” said Eleanor Batreau, 45, who organizes pilgrimages to Lourdes and sometimes works at Notre-Dame...
A jewel of medieval Gothic architecture built in the 12th and 13th centuries, Notre-Dame is a landmark not only for Paris, where it squats firmly yet gracefully at its very center, but for all the world. The cathedral is visited by about 30,000 people a day and around 13 million people a year.
For centuries France’s kings and queens were married and buried there. Napoleon was crowned emperor in Notre-Dame in 1804..."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/worl ... pe=article
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Napoleon I's choosing to be crowned Emperor of France is considered to have rescued the venerable Cathedral from the demon-crazed barbarians of the French Revolution. These rampages were very similar to the Bolsheviks and their dupes who destroyed great Churches throughout the former Russian Empire.
Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow was blown up on December 5, 1931
The NYT article notes that only last week 16 statues of the 12 Apostles and 4 Evangelists were lifted up by a crane so that this monumental spire could be cleaned.
What was the cause of the fire ? The obvious investigation is being launched, but experts in construction of old landmarks say that for great edifices like this, sparks from a welder's torch can set off a fire, especially in areas with old woodwork.