Heard they were doing restoration work last week and had removed some statues - what an absolutely terrible thing to happen to this architectural wonder.
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Being musician and especially organist, I am deeply shocked. For me this is touching me significantly more than 9/11. It is such an icon of western history - not in the last place for its magnificent organ.
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Letās hope there are few if any fatalities here, even if they get it under control Iād imagine smoke and water damage will be significant.
Youād hate to lose any iconic building, but I suspect the Eiffel Tower for example could be re-created in a manner this never could in the modern age.
Yes devastating, but it might be a blessing in disguise. It was in pretty poor state & had deteriorated badly over many years. The ongoing repairs were just that, repairs, not the huge overall restoration that was required.
I cannot imagine a building which has more important historical value. We have just lost the building which was example for many centuries of architecture.
This place was where leoninus, perotinus and Guillaume de Machaut wrote the best music from the middle ages.
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Iāve not been to Paris for far too long, and despite viewing from the outside I suspect Iāll rue never seeing the cathedralās interior first hand.
This terrible event beggars belief, it just shouldnāt of happened.
I wonder if the renovation firm involved will ever get another contractā¦?
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Theyāre busy contructing a guillotine at the Place de la Concorde at this very moment.
Donāt foget itās only building, hopefully nobody was killed or seriously injured.
As usual the news outlets have gone over the top with the continuous repeated footage. Itās on fire, and itās seriously damaged, letās move onto some other news.
Itās far more than a normal building though.
Iām not a Catholic but it is one of several āplacesā synonymous with Parisā identity and history.
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This is an absolute tragedy. 850 years of beautifully framed structure destroyed. A building which took 200 years to complete, destroyed in 3 hours.
Yes, of course everyone knows it was crumbling and stonework repairs would have taken decades of continuous restoration to complete, but this was NOT a blessing in disguise. Hundreds of tonnes of irreplaceable historic timber work, artifacts and decorations have been lost.
One has to ask, where was the disaster plan?
We should all weep for France tonight.
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Itās not āa blessing in disguiseā - a rather insensitive comment, I would have thought. Itās hundreds of years of human endeavour going up in smoke.
It was a place of music. The organist Olivier Latry is probably the best organist on this planet. I am sure he is alive, but him playing that organ was quite special.
I am genuinely sorry it was not meant to be insensitive. The last time I was there I was shocked by the state of the building, I was thinking this fire would spur the government or whoever into a top to bottom restoration. Unfortunately, its now looking that might be doubtful.
Itās ok, I do understand. Unfortunately you were right about the state of the building - and that may have contributed to the blaze spreading so quickly. There will be lots of questions tomorrow, Iām sure.
For our UK friends, āCarillion de Westminsterā by Louis Vierne - played by Olivier Latry in the Notre Dame:
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I believe only the wooden spire and roof has gone, hopefully they will contain the fire before anything too devastating.
i am following this disaster in direct here in Paris. Itās very sad, itās perhaps the most important building and symbol in France.
The arrow collapsed and probably the left tower is touched. Still burning since 18h50. The fire men have only a 30 meters access, and the pic is at 80 meters.
I just been informed that the main structure is saved! itās a great news , news from the Paris firemen directory.
Though the spire was above the altar/transept and collapsed and one has to assume this as well as a burning roof collapsing would have consumed artwork/combustibles within even if the stone structure is intact.