Looking at the aerial shot, it looks like the fire is sat on top of the vaulting rather than being at ground level. The one part of the vaulting that has gone might be where the spire fell, hard to tell but there’s a hole to the left of the scaffolding in the aerial shot that is probably the same. It seems like they were very lucky that the whole of the vaulting didn’t collapse, although made of stone it isn’t meant to support anything other than itself.

Last summer we had a tour of the roof area of Rheims cathedral, as @Lummox says, access isn’t straightforward – the staircases weren’t as narrow and constricted as those at Winchester but they weren’t exactly spacious.

“French billionaire Pinault pledges 100 million euros towards rebuilding Notre-Dame”

Just seen someone has donated 100m Euros, which is nice.

Only yesterday I re-roofed the shed and removed the huge tarpaulin that’s been covering it all winter – it’s good quality too. Thinking of donating that to help keep the weather out.

They don’t own it

Win for the pope’s bank balance then.

They don’t own it.

They can still contribute, I suppose.

And the Arnault family has also pledged 200 millions.

They can still contribute, I suppose.

Yup.

It will be interesting to see whether they choose to rebuild the roof with wood, or a less flammable material.
The history of the medieval period is littered with fires, I think Moscow used to burn down every now and often, and we had our Great Fire, mainly because we had to use the same material to build our buildings with which we fuelled our fires.

Conflicted – Notre Dame is clearly a huge global asset as a chunk of art/history and stands as a national icon.

But….as someone not enamoured by religion in general and organised religion specifically these huge lumps of stone stand for something I despise. Their very existence is a visual reminder of poor funding choices to honour a god rather than help the population – think of Boris’ garden bridge but on steroids. It also sits there as fabric of an institution almost justifying and making legitimate the whole concept of religion.

Yup.

Especially given all the tourist tax revenue it helps to generate for the French state.

So to confirm anyone’s allowed to make jokes about this bar jhj?

Makes you think.

Why the need for donations? Surely the place is insured?

Guy on Radio 4 this morning who has already donated €100m to its repair.

But….as someone not enamoured by religion in general and organised religion specifically these huge lumps of stone stand for something I despise. Their very existence is a visual reminder of poor funding choices to honour a god rather than help the population

this.

Guy on Radio 4 this morning who has already donated €100m to its repair.

wonder if he also donated €100m to ease the appalling conditions at the Calais camps? Perfectly sums up the hypocrisy of this monument if not.

these huge lumps of stone stand for something I despise. Their very existence is a visual reminder of poor funding choices to honour a god rather than help the population

I agree with you there convert and whilst I wouldn’t normally be defending JHJ, divine retribution on the catholic church for it’s complicity in child abuse was one of the things that crossed my mind. (Strange that this fire is seen as a catastrophy whilst years of child abuse from the catholic church is brushed aside.)

wonder if he also donated €100m to ease the appalling conditions at the Calais camps? Perfectly sums up the hypocrisy of this monument if not.

And the whataboutery commences.

So to confirm anyone’s allowed to make jokes about this bar jhj?

It was one of random political theories not a joke.

Did quotes make my post invisible? Same thing repeated 4 times afterwards. Oh well 😆

Did quotes make my post invisible? Same thing repeated 4 times afterwards. Oh wel

Imagine how CClou feels about it.

wonder if he also donated €100m to ease the appalling conditions at the Calais camps? Perfectly sums up the hypocrisy of this monument if not.

Like it or not, it’s part of the tapestry of European history. Letting that be destroyed is as terrible as letting any other historical building or artefact slide into destruction. For example, let’s not forget that the building has helped to heavily shape our understanding of the development of western music.

Would you rather we do a Chairman Mao and destroy our culture and history for the cause? How did that work out for China?

There is a big difference between destruction and feeling it is necessary to reconstruct after ‘natural disaster’.

wonder if he also donated €100m to ease the appalling conditions at the Calais camps?

Didn’t realise this was an either/or decision.  Maybe he forgot to consider the potential new hospital wing for sick children, or the home for poorly puppies and kittens, or the potential to fund ground breaking research into dementia.  Is the gesture invalid because someone doesn’t champion your personal cause?

@Convert Not really, the end point is the same as we’d lose it all given that attitude.

There is a big difference between destruction and feeling it is necessary to reconstruct after ‘natural disaster’.

No not really.

And the whataboutery commences.

No not really.

Just making the point that for too many of us on earth, things > people.

Utter **** waste of money when Paris has some of the most deprived living areas in Europe, sort out equality for all before adorning your city with pointless trinkets

libertie, egalite, fraternitie

Utter **** waste of money when Paris has some of the most deprived living areas in Europe, sort out equality for all before adorning your city with pointless trinkets

That would be the most visited monument in Paris, and a huge tourist draw? That pointless trinket you mean?

It’d make a great ruin.
There are more important things to spend/invest money & resources in.

so the most visited tourist draw in Paris has contributed exactly how much to the further raising of equality for those living on the streets of Paris ?, like I said….utter **** waste of money, like the Glasgow school of art….let it burn and build a modern city for all, not just a skyline and trinkets harking back to a time when religious intolerance was rife.

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It’d make a great ruin.
There are more important things to spend/invest money & resources in.

Like nuclear weapons and the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier?

Start there with your bitching.

so the most visited tourist draw in Paris has contributed exactly how much to the further raising of equality for those living on the streets of Paris ?

Yeah, the French would be in a much better position without the yoke of the tourist industry generating money and jobs.

on the streets of Paris ?, like I said….utter **** waste of money, like the Glasgow school of art….let it burn and build a modern city for all, not just a skyline and trinkets harking back to a time when religious intolerance was rife.

How did the 1950s dream of a modernist urban utopia work out for us? Brutalism…..WHOOOOOOO!

And if you care about religious intolerance, surely remembering it is the way forward? That’s like stating we should let Auschwitz burn to the ground because the holocaust was horrific.

Remember though, the human need to understand our world led to religion and then rationality. Two faces of the same human coin. Not to mention that Notre Dame was a church to the cult of reason at one point….it stands as a monument of the journey to where we are today.

so the most visited tourist draw in Paris has contributed exactly how much to the further raising of equality for those living on the streets of Paris ?, like I said….utter **** waste of money, like the Glasgow school of art….let it burn and build a modern city for all, not just a skyline and trinkets harking back to a time when religious intolerance was rife

Edit: I can’t even begin to argue with such polarised views on matters.

maybe they could do a modern reconstruction?
turn it into a launch pad for Tesla spacecopters?

The Edge Lords are out in full force

If you want full on weird, the Trump fans on Twitter are already blaming dark forces (aka Muslims):

There is NO WAY this 800 year old Cathedral was destroyed by a construction fire , one day after Palm Sunday and during Holy Week. #ParisIsBurning #ROP #CathedraleNotreDame pic.twitter.com/h70yYchpom

— MTJ Renegade (@MarkTJay3) April 16, 2019

Via @AmyMek ALERT!

French Media reported there were no construction workers at the time of the fire at cathédrale Notre Dame & the Church was closed

So WHY is there a video of person at one of the the 2 towers half an hour after the start of the fire?pic.twitter.com/iZYsac9G2G

— WINNING⭐⭐⭐AMERICA 2020 (@TrumpLadyFran) April 16, 2019

What would Jesus do? Spend millions rebuilding a cathedral or use the money for the poor. I think he said something along the lines that any place where you talk about me is a church.

I am not Christian but it seems horrible how far from Jesus’s words (many of his general thoughts and word were and are positive messages) some people who call themselves Christians have gone where by they are so interested in symbolism.

If you want full on weird, the Trump fans on Twitter are already blaming dark forces (aka Muslims):

If I told you some Brexit supporters have been since the first reports of the fire would you be surprised?

What would Jesus do? Spend millions rebuilding a cathedral or use the money for the poor

Guessing Jesus probably wasn’t that well informed about the workings of 21st century economies, and how investing millions to recover more due to tourism etc might actually help the poor more in the long run?

If I told you some Brexit supporters at have been since the first reports of the fire would you be surprised?

Shocked, I’m shocked. To the core.

Would Jesus spend millions on nuclear weapons as well?

There are plenty of other things to cut before history and culture.

There are also plenty of NGOs throwing money at the poor to little avail. At least this will create employment for little return to the investors. A 100 million donation is still a 100 million transfer of wealth to the various social classes involved with the rebuild. Keynesian economics right there.

What would Jesus do?

He’d feed the workers fish finger sandwiches.