Major fire at Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris) (1 Viewer)

[T.P.]

I've been worried about the rose window in particular. I read that only one of the main panels was destroyed.

The rubble that you see at the base of the alter..People are speculating that is part of the steeple that fell in the church..People that have been there could this be true?

 

[zatsnzapps]

From reddit - this was taken an hour before the fire. The detail is amazing. Click it to see the full size.

 

[Brennan77]

We live in a time that an empty room or a blank canvas can be considered art.

And modern architecture is more about who can build the tallest glass fronted building.

Sadly any attempts to recreate the spire will be terrible in comparison.

It depends on who is doing the designing and what their purpose in life and art are. If they are serving God and participating in art for the sake of communicating beauty that transcends human scope, a taste of heaven, then there is no limit to what is possible. If it's an artist who seeks to communicate deconstruction, sarcasm, and ego, well...

 

[Tapxe]

It depends on who is doing the designing and what their purpose in life and art are. If they are serving God and participating in art for the sake of communicating beauty that transcends human scope, a taste of heaven, then there is no limit to what is possible. If it's an artist who seeks to communicate deconstruction, sarcasm, and ego, well...

I love how people can intuit the outcome of something when it hasn't even happened yet.

I wonder how much beauty they never see because it's been prejudged and never has a chance.

 

[rajncajn]

It depends on who is doing the designing and what their purpose in life and art are. If they are serving God and participating in art for the sake of communicating beauty that transcends human scope, a taste of heaven, then there is no limit to what is possible. If it's an artist who seeks to communicate deconstruction, sarcasm, and ego, well...

Very well said and this doesn't just speak for Christians it even religion. When someone creates something for the good of mankind serving a higher purpose than his or her own gain then truly wonderful and remarkable things can be done.

 

[T.P.]

 

[Flipx99]

Assuming they can get corporate sponsorship to rebuild the cathedral, would ya'll be opposed to renaming it something like the Mercedes-Benz Notre Dame Cathedral?

 

[LuvNOLA]

Assuming they can get corporate sponsorship to rebuild the cathedral, would ya'll be opposed to renaming it something like the Mercedes-Benz Notre Dame Cathedral?

It is my understanding, that, that is not how the Catholic Church operates.

Notre Dame will be rebuilt with Catholics (& maybe some non Catholics) who have buckets of $$$ to spend & are very willingly to give it to the church.

Whenever I have wondered why the Catholic Church has billions of $$$ in artwork, gold & buildings......I have always been told that, “all of that has been donated.”

It just seems so bizarre to me, when Jesus lived such a humble, simple life.

 

[Goatman Saint]

The rubble that you see at the base of the alter..People are speculating that is part of the steeple that fell in the church..People that have been there could this be true?

Anything is possible, as the base could’ve gone back that way. However, the spire, which was mostly burned out at that time, and consisted of only the lead covering and metal lightning rod fell towards the two towers in front. If you line up the roofline and such, no way could that have been the top part of the spire. Now, if the base fell back towards the back of the church (alter) then I suppose that’s possible as the 725 tons had to go somewhere. My guess is as the roof near the spire was burning first, the roof that ran across the church would’ve been pulled towards the alter and it would’ve been that supporting structure for the base of the spire, the peak of the meeting rooflines and such falling backwards towards the alter would be more likely. Or if it was some of the scaffolding, and a chunk of the lead roof, as the dried out wood wouldn’t have had the weight after listening to the news it would’ve been so dried it would’ve burned fast and hot, with very little weight to fall on the stone.

 

[Goatman Saint]

It is my understanding, that, that is not how the Catholic Church operates.

Notre Dame will be rebuilt with Catholics (& maybe some non Catholics) who have buckets of $$$ to spend & are very willingly to give it to the church.

Whenever I have wondered why the Catholic Church has billions of $$$ in artwork, gold & buildings......I have always been told that, “all of that has been donated.”

It just seems so bizarre to me, when Jesus lived such a humble, simple life.

Catholic Church-richest organization by far in the world.

Anyway, the Cathedral itself is owned by the French ministry of arts I believe. I know it’s government owned with the church accountable for day to day upkeep, the government for major work, however if I remember correctly and it’s been a few years, France cannot directly spend government money on upkeep so they have a private sponsor that raises money for the modernization and repair work. (Which is why it has continually been so poorly maintained imo, as there is no one party responsible. The great cathedrals as a general rule are in terrible condition structurally)

Anyway, a French billionaire has already pledged 100 million euros, and I’m sure huge donations are coming. (Edit: the amount pledged is up to a half billion euros from just 5 major donors so far as of this am) However, this renovation to the towers and now the roof and spire were majority from American sources. They will be lucky to get a cent out of the Catholic Church proper.

 

[LuvNOLA]

Catholic Church-richest organization by far in the world.

Anyway, the Cathedral itself is owned by the French ministry of arts I believe. I know it’s government owned with the church accountable for day to day upkeep, the government for major work, however if I remember correctly and it’s been a few years, France cannot directly spend government money on upkeep so they have a private sponsor that raises money for the modernization and repair work. (Which is why it has continually been so poorly maintained imo, as there is no one party responsible. The great cathedrals as a general rule are in terrible condition structurally)

Anyway, a French billionaire has already pledged 100 million euros, and I’m sure huge donations are coming. However, this renovation to the towers and now the roof and spire were majority from American sources. They will be lucky to get a cent out of the Catholic Church proper.

Wow!!! A lot of education there!

Thanks for all of the scoop.

 

[FootballLady]

It is my understanding, that, that is not how the Catholic Church operates.

Notre Dame will be rebuilt with Catholics (& maybe some non Catholics) who have buckets of $$$ to spend & are very willingly to give it to the church.

Whenever I have wondered why the Catholic Church has billions of $$$ in artwork, gold & buildings......I have always been told that, “all of that has been donated.”

It just seems so bizarre to me, when Jesus lived such a humble, simple life.

If the works of art, etc weren't on display--for free, I might add--in these churches, they'd be locked away in some rich guy's home. Having these priceless works of religious art allows them to be shared with all who walk through the door. This way, even the poorest can share in the beauty of these works.

 

[sfidc3]

Catholic Church-richest organization by far in the world.

Anyway, the Cathedral itself is owned by the French ministry of arts I believe. I know it’s government owned with the church accountable for day to day upkeep, the government for major work, however if I remember correctly and it’s been a few years, France cannot directly spend government money on upkeep so they have a private sponsor that raises money for the modernization and repair work. (Which is why it has continually been so poorly maintained imo, as there is no one party responsible. The great cathedrals as a general rule are in terrible condition structurally)

Anyway, a French billionaire has already pledged 100 million euros, and I’m sure huge donations are coming. (Edit: the amount pledged is up to a half billion euros from just 5 major donors so far as of this am) However, this renovation to the towers and now the roof and spire were majority from American sources. They will be lucky to get a cent out of the Catholic Church proper.

Yes, I learned about all of above just a few weeks ago as we were visiting Paris, my BIL has learned alot about the city, the sites and the history and facts all around them.

Like I said before not a fan of the Catholic Church or organized religion in general as I think on a macro scale they do more harm than good....but I'm a huge fan of history and art and it is good news that Salma Hayek's husband and family are making this generous donation......

 

[T.P.]

 

[DaveXA]

Tough to see all of the damage, but it looks like there's enough left to rebuild around. I'm surprised the windows survived it. I would have thought the heat from the fire would be too much and shatter them. The stained glass oval looks amazing.