The devastating fire that broke out in the wood-timbered roof of the gothic cathedral of Notre Dame in the early evening of April 15th rapidly spread before their eyes, consuming the central spire and defeating the efforts of fire-fighters to bring the flames under control.
The 850-year-old edifice had survived war, revolution and Nazi occupation, an emblem of resistance in the face of a constantly disrupted history. It was the site of Napoleon’s coronation in 1804 and the inspiration for literary works, most famously Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, and one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, visited by 13m tourists each year.
It will take time and a full investigation before the exact cause of the fire is established. Early reports from the Paris fire service suggested that it was not a work of arson but an accident that broke out in the central roof, where building works were underway to renovate the 19th-century spire.
