Tragic fire occurs at Notre Dame in Paris

A few days ago, the world watched as Notre Dame in Paris was on fire.

Notre Dame, a major landmark in France, is a cathedral built in 1163. Millions of people visit the church every year and marvel in awe over the intricate Gothic architecture and rich history.

The cathedral is as resilient as it is old, surviving the French Revolution and both world wars amongst other things. However, as The New York Times reports, Monday evening the attic caught on fire. It is suspected to have happened accidentally.

“It is like a death to France. Notre Dame had taken so long to build and now it is going to take 15 years minimum to get it rebuilt again. It is truly heartbreaking,” said Cloee Ritenour, senior.

Fortunately, as BBC reports, Notre Dame was able to preserve much of the building, but this does not take away from the immense damage done. With that being said, NPR and other outlets have reported that millions of euros have already been poured in to preserve this token of history.

Notre Dame is not the only place of worship to have suffered damage recently. Within the past month, the Washington Post reports that three historically black churches in New Orleans suffered arson due to a racist rampage.

Social media has given these lesser known tragedies attention and donations for the New Orleans churches have increased significantly in the past week.

Max Wieland, junior, remembers visiting Notre Dame as a child and though Monday’s fire left him in disbelief, he believes that the city will be able to recover.

“Although tragic, the city is already working on rebuilding it so I am not too worried that history will be lost; if anything, this will be another event to be noted in books of Notre Dame’s history,” Wieland said.