France's three wealthiest families are coming to the rescue of a national icon, spearheading a fundraising drive to rebuild Notre Dame that has topped $700 million.
Experts said the combination of a centuries-old structure, built with heavy timber construction and soaring open spaces, and lacking sophisticated fire-protection systems, led to the quick rise of flames and hampered firefighters' efforts.
What remained was a blackened shell of the monument immortalized in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", a building that had survived nearly 900 years of tumultuous French history but was devastated amid renovation works at the start of Catholic Easter week.
French President Emmanuel Macron promised to restore the fire-damaged cathedral to its glory within five years, vowing in a televised address on Wednesday that it would be even more handsome.
Among the most celebrated artworks inside are its three stained-glass rose windows, placed high up on the west, north and south faces of the cathedral.
The fashion house went on to describe Notre Dame as a "symbol of French heritage and unity". He used lasers to map the entire cathedral, measuring the time the laser takes to reach the target and return to create a very precise image. Notre Dame is part of a UNESCO heritage site and UNESCO has offered its expertise.
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Pope Francis sent those words of solidarity to Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris on Tuesday. Offering France encouragement, Former US President Barack Obama stated, "It's in our nature to mourn when we see history lost - but it's also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can".
French billionaire Bernard Arnault and his conglomerate LVMH have pledged 200 million euros, according to The Associated Press, and François-Henri Pinault, another French billionaire, said he and his family would donate 100 million euros, according to Buzzfeed. Tycoons, worldwide firms, local authorities and individuals have promised financial and expert help - with a total of almost 900 million euros (780.05 million pounds) pledged by Wednesday.
Total, a major French oil and gas company, on Tuesday pledged €100 million ($113 million) for Notre Dame's reconstruction. Immediate steps will need to be taken to prevent further damage, since the structure is now particularly vulnerable to water damage. Cologne Cathedral was heavily damaged during World War II and work to fix it is still ongoing more than 70 years later.
Situated on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the Seine river, its architecture is famous for, among other things, its many gargoyles and its iconic flying buttresses.
Notre-Dame has been standing for hundreds of years and even survived two World Wars but it isn't the first time that Notre-Dame has been damaged.
Associated Press writers Angela Charlton, John Leicester, Sylvie Corbet and Elaine Ganley in Paris, Nicole Winfield in Rome and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed.
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