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” :-)
|