Notre Dame; The Inferno
On April 15, 2019, in the middle of the afternoon rush hour, a fire broke out in the gothic cathedral Notre Dame. Parisians are grief-ridden over the loss of their ‘lady’ even with the promise that the government will, in fact, rebuild it. Millions of dollars has already been pledged to the restoration of one of France’s most popular tourist spots.
The first report came in when the fire wasn’t nearly as bad. It had begun in the attic and probably would not have been so catastrophic if it weren’t for the horrible traffic. By the time the firemen arrived, you could see the fire clearly from the outside.
Over four-hundred firefighters were deployed to stop the fire, yet the cathedral is still only a shell of what it used to be. Most of the carved stone framework is still in place, and the two iconic bell towers still stand strong. However, the iconic spire turned black and burnt to the ground near 8 PM on Monday night. During the battle, President Trump tweeted that Paris should send in aerial forces to drop water on the Notre Dame, yet this idea was deemed impractical because it would cause more damage to the already delicate building.
As of now, no cause has been identified. The one thing that could possibly be related is that construction was being done, and it could have been a work accident. There are already conspiracies circling the web about the cause. The government strongly believes that the fire was accidental, but several people claim that it was intentional. They say that since another famous French church was destroyed intentionally, then it might be the same situation. All of these theories get even more ridiculous, and some are just blatantly far-fetched.
The fire has been stopped, with a lot of the important relics saved. The Crown of Thorns was saved, which was believed to have been placed on the head of Jesus, which is the cathedral’s "most precious and most venerated relic," Also, they saved the Tunic of Saint Louis and paintings. The main bell, the Emmanual, is also safe, as far as anyone is aware.
The people of France will continue to mourn this historic cathedral until it’s restored; even then, it may not ever be the same.
-Andie
📷