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Originally Posted by ariel
The “ iconic spire” was built by the infamous Viollet-le- Duc in the 1860’s. He installed statues of 12 apostles , 11 of whom had their backs toward the spire. The only one , St. Thomas, facing the spire was his own self-portrait.
There are very few truly old architectural memorials that were not destroyed/rebuilt several times and we still admire them as originals.
The entire City of Warsaw was leveled by the Germans in 1944-5, the Gur Emir ( Tamerlan’s mausoleum in Samarkand) had it’s lost wings rebuilt, the Imperial Palace in Budapest was destroyed by the Ottomans, by 5 sieges by Hapsburgs, the Austrians during Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Russians in 1944 and again by the same Russians in 1956 ( another Hungarian Revolution) . Each time it was rebuilt according to old plans. Al Aksa in Jerusalem was rebuilt twice after earthquakes and restored after a major fire in 1969 when a schizophrenic Australian evangelical decided to hasten the Judgement Day.
With plenty of money and modern engineering the Notre Dame will look 100% authentic in no time. Fifty years from now its visitors will admire “genuine Gothic architecture” :-)
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Thanks for the additional info on this iconic cathedral. I was looking into more on it myself, realizing just how much I had always taken for granted that it was always there. It is wonderful poignantly that virtually people from all parts of the world, even outside the Catholic Faith, are all together in mourning the severe damage to this structure.
Apparently, Notre Dame was even suffering decay at the time Victor Hugo wrote his epic novel in 1831, which he duly noted. There were restorations attempted in 1844 as well as numerous times over the years. It is ironic that the very efforts to restore and strengthen this monument caused this terrible event, but this has brought a tremendous solidarity in bringing Notre Dame back to its venerable glory, and even stronger than ever.
It continues its very purpose, its inspiration, even damaged, giving people everywhere hope, faith and strength.