Fire Breaks Out in Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral

Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral, constructed in 1163 under the reign of King Louis VII and known as the “jewel of medieval gothic architecture” caught fire on Tuesday morning. The heart of French Catholicism is the most visited tourist attraction in all of France and becomes an especially busy site during the week leading up to Easter.

This devastatingly destructive fire is not the first of its kind. Notre Dame was originally built to replace a church that had been burnt down and has

since caught fire during the 13th century. This fire is thought to have occurred on accident, a result of the maintenance and renovation work that the church had been experiencing.

While the fire proves to be detrimental for a multitude of reasons, hindering plans to visit the cathedral being a notable one, don’t fret. Three of France’s wealthiest families have already pledged to donate a starting sum totaling $700 million to begin rebuilding the cathedral that had been a religious and historic symbol of Paris for almost a thousand years.