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Our Lady Rises From the Ashes
Morning in Paris, the city awakesTo the bells of Notre DameThe fisherman fishes, the bakerman bakesTo the bells of Notre DameTo the big bells as loud as the thunderTo the little bells soft as a psalmAnd some say the soul of the city is the toll of the bellsThe bells of Notre Dame
– Stephen Schwartz
In April of 2019, the bells of Notre-Dame de Paris fell silent. A structural fire destroyed the roof and brought down the cathedral’s wooden spire.
The French government, which has owned all the country’s cathedrals since 1905, pledged to rebuild her. There were worries that there would be a push to “modernize” or “reimagine” the space.
But artisans and engineers from all over the world descended on Paris to clean, to paint, and to rebuild her to her previous glory. And while Americans were either celebrating or mourning the results of our election, those folks were celebrating something else. On Friday morning, November 8th, all eight bells of the mighty cathedral rang out together for the first time in over five years.
On December 7th, Notre Dame will officially reopen and the following day they will celebrate Mass. A celebration of rebirth and resurrection.
Sing the bells, bells, bells, bellsBells, bells, bells, bellsThe Bells of Notre Dame
Photo by Galerie Kreo
Let’s also give proper credit to the computer video game company, which had made very detailed scans of the building for use in their games, and provided those to help rebuild.
It’s good to see some government organization accomplish something.
Was the hunchback injured in the fire?
Oops! I meant to say, “vertebrally challenged person” . . .
Wow. Amazing.
I have art, paintings of the Cathedral, all around my home. I’ve been drawn to that structure and have no idea why. When it burned, I mourned. Now, I rejoice. It’s probably time to visit Paris.
The structural power of arches finally getting their due.
There was a fascinating NOVA episode a few years back that went into a lot of detail about the restoration. It’s a really cool intersection of old and new; as @kedavis points out, some high-resolution scans had only recently been done, so they had very detailed information to go on.
My family visited Japan just a few months after the fire. When we visited Todai-ji, a famous Buddhist temple in Nara, I was touched to see a donation box for the Notre-Dame restoration. It wasn’t something I expected to see in a Buddhist temple on the other side of the planet.
There may be some earlier examples?
But also, yes.
And also, the video game company is Ubisoft.
Scan/map all French churches. Then all Canadian churches that are left. Then keep going. More than worth the money as cultural insurance. It’s like the Gutenberg Project and I’d gladly contribute.