A Scar On The Face Of Paris

 

Notre Dame de Paris is burning as I write this.  The roof has fallen in and the flèche (the arrow), the central spire, has fallen with it.  The bell towers are involved.  The stained glass windows including the famous Rose Window are probably now lying in shards on the floor.  Drone footage shows the interior, mostly 800-year-old wood, is an inferno.  Without its roof, the flying buttresses that supported the enormous weight of the roof will likely push the walls inward.  The structure is probably a total loss.

I don't know which is worse: that we have lost NDdP to negligence or to arson.  In some ways, 'arson' might be preferable.  It would allow us to be angry at something or someone, but to lose 800 years of beauty and elegance and tradition to 'oops!' would be just too hard to bear.

How was this allowed to happen?

My heart is broken.  What is left will surely be 'a scar on the face of Paris'.

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UPDATE (16Apr): Authorities now say the fire was accidental.  I don't know that I entirely believe that, given that a dozen smaller French churches have gone up in flames over the past several months.  The stonework appears to have survived, and many artworks and relics have been saved.  Importantly, the crypt that houses priceless documents such as the original plans for the cathedral, appears to have survived as well.  The bell towers are intact.  Had the bells (which are supported on wooden carriages) crashed to the parvis, they could easily have taken the towers with them.  The Rose Window is said to be damaged but salvageable.

Many prominent French industrialists have pledged (so far) over €600 million for its restoration.

It will likely take decades before NDdP regains its former beauty if, in fact, it ever does.  Just as those who first began its construction in 1153, I will not live to see it complete.