Notre Dame: The national and architectural significance of the historic cathedral
Notre Dame: The national and architectural significance of
the historic cathedral originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
There
are few monuments that are more distinctly French or more woven into the
history of France than Notre Dame Cathedral.
As images of the fire ravaging through the
historic church sparked outcries around the globe, people from all walks of
life are mourning.
Its
place in Catholicism is undisputed, as is its role in French history. It was
the site of some of the most notable coronations, including that of Emperor
Napoleon.
Beyond
the Catholics who attend mass there and the tourists who go to look for a
glimpse of Quasimodo, the cathedral represents a landmark in Parisian life that
is now likely permanently scarred, if not disfigured or ruined.
“Notre
Dame Cathedral is the very soul of Paris but so much more -- it is a touchstone
for all that is the best about the world, and a monument to the highest
aspirations of artistic achievement that transcends religion and time,” The
Metropolitan Museum of Art said in a statement.
“It
has survived so much -- from the French Revolution to Nazi occupation—to watch
its devastation is excruciating,” the statement continued.
Edward
Berenson, a history professor who specializes in French history at New York
University, said Notre Dame is "one of the most sacred places, maybe the
most sacred place, not only in France but in all of Catholicism. There aren’t
that many places that are that old and that connected to the history of the
church."
He
went on, “Notre Dame has evolved into a place where every French person can
feel belongs to them, whether they're religious or not, and I think that’s the
really key point: it has national meaning. It’s one of the things that’s
associated with France even more so than the Eiffel Tower just because it’s so
much older than the Eiffel Tower."
Beyond
its religious significance, Notre Dame was the site of many French coronations.
Notre
Dame was built over the course of a century, starting in 1160 and ending in
1260, centuries before any country in North America, South America, or Africa
was formally founded. The Eiffel Tower was completed in 1889.
The
cathedral is located at the center of Ile de la Cite, which is the small island
in the middle of the Seine River, which Berenson notes “is the original Paris.”
“Even
before Roman times, [that’s] where the first settlements were,” he said of Ile
de la Cite.
The
cathedral is 130 meters long, which is a little longer than a football field,
and 48 meters wide. One of the most distinctive aspects of the cathedral is its
height, coming in at 35 meters high, according to the cathedral’s website.
“Architecturally,
it was significant at the time it was built because it was built in the Gothic
tradition,” said Krupali Krusche, the associate dean of the school of
architecture at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, who pointed to the
lightness of the walls and the flying buttress support system as two key
factors in that style.
She
said that the “very thin shell [of the building] and the light buttresses on
the shell allow it to reach greater heights than any catholic church
previously built.”
Another
iconic part of Notre Dame is the stained glass rose windows, which are more
than 32 feet in diameter. When asked to name some of the most significant and
historic aspects of the cathedral, Berenson immediately cited the windows,
calling them “priceless.”
“You
would have to think that they would be unbelievably vulnerable to high heat,”
Berenson said.
Krusche
noted that beyond their beauty, the rose windows “are some of the largest rose
windows that you will see around the world” and were unique at the time of
their creation.
“Gothic
architecture allowed the buildings to be lighter and to go higher, reaching out
to the heavens, and then the light allowed it to be having a sense of being
able to connect to new knowledge,” Krusche said.
Millions
pledged to help rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral after devastating fire
PARIS
— A massive fundraising campaign was being launched Tuesday to rebuild the
Notre Dame Cathedral, hours after a huge fire engulfed the iconic 800-year-old
house of worship in the French capital.
The
Paris Fire Service announced on Twitter that firefighters "came to
grips with" the blaze early Tuesday, more than nine hours after
they began the effort. It said nearly 400 firefighters had battled the
inferno, and two policemen and one firefighter had been slightly injured.
Paris
firefighters spokesman Gabriel Plus said "the entire fire is out" and
that emergency services were "surveying the movement of the structures and
extinguishing smoldering residues," according to media reports.
Officials
said Monday that the blaze could be linked to renovation work — the
cathedral was in the midst of a $6.8 million renovation project.
France’s
public prosecutor said investigators would visit the Notre Dame site
Tuesday to talk to the people who were working on the renovations to try to
gather information about what may have caused the fire
“The
worst has been avoided, although the battle is not yet totally won,” said
French President Emmanuel Macron who rushed to the scene of the blaze
Monday. Announcing the fundraising effort, he vowed to reconstruct the
church.
"We'll
rebuild this cathedral all together and it's undoubtedly part of the French
destiny and the project we'll have for the coming years," said Macron.
French
billionaire Francois Henri Pinault pledged $113 million towards
reconstructing the cathedral, while fellow billionaire Bernard Arnault and
his LVMH group pledged $226 million.
“The
Arnault family and the LVMH group would like to show their solidarity
at this time of national tragedy, and are joining up to help rebuild this
extraordinary cathedral, which is a symbol of France, of its heritage and of
French unity,” their statement said Tuesday.
The
Vatican said Pope Francis was "praying for French Catholics and for the
people of Paris in face of the terrible fire which has ravaged Notre-Dame
cathedral,” the Agence France-Presse news agency reported.
The
blaze collapsed the cathedral’s spire and spread to one of its rectangular
towers in a spectacle watched by throngs of horrified spectators.
However Paris Fire Chief Jean-Claude Gallet said the church’s main
structure had been saved after firefighters prevented the flames
from spreading to the northern belfry.
Emmanuel
Gregoire, the deputy mayor of Paris, told BFMTV on Tuesday that a plan to
protect Notre Dame’s treasures was successful and the famous 18th
century organ remained intact. He described “enormous relief” at the
salvaging of pieces such as the purported Crown of Christ.
City
prosecutors announced they were opening an investigation. Arson was ruled out
as well as possible terror-related motives, officials said.
The
damage to the building, however, was extensive. "Two-thirds of the roofing
has been ravaged," Gallet said.
It
was a dramatic shift from earlier Monday when officials predicted the
structure would burn to the ground.
“Everything
is burning. Nothing will remain from the frame,” Notre Dame spokesman
Andre Finot had told French media. The 12th-century cathedral is one of
the world’s most famous tourist attractions, immortalized by Victor Hugo’s 1831
novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
The
blaze comes during Holy Week, an important event for the Catholic
Church with Easter days away.
Contributing:
Jane Onyanga-Omara in London; the Associated Press
This
article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Millions pledged to help rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral after
devastating fire
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