PARIS (WAVY) – A symbol of Paris, on fire. On April 15, 2019, the world watched as the Notre Dame Cathedral burned.
More than four years after fire tore through the historic Notre Dame Cathedral, construction is still underway to restore it, but that hasn’t stopped people from coming out to take a look.
A shell of cranes and scaffolding surrounds the iconic medieval cathedral on the Île de la Cité in Paris, as thousands of people descend on its grounds.
The 2019 fire destroyed most of the roof and caused the cathedral’s spine to collapse.
“Because of a failure in the security system, it quickly caught on and started to burn everything on its path,” French historian Virgile Demoustier explained.
Demoustier said firefighters responded quickly. “Even though the fire was massive, was impressive, was almost cataclysmic, most of the cathedral as we know it remained. So now the works that we’re seeing behind me are here to basically reinforce parts of the cathedral that were weakened by the fire and rebuild the wooden framework of the cathedral.”
Crews are using the Seine River to help with the process.
“Workers have started to ship parts of the wooden structure down the Seine to the center of Paris, next to Notre Dame to basically piece together, piece back together the parts of the roof that were burnt four years ago,” said Demoustier.
And while those efforts continue, tourists still visit the historic site, spending a moment in awe of one of the symbols of Paris, miraculously still standing today.
The restoration will not be finished in time for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics which kicks off July 26, but is on track for December of 2024.
