HERITAGE ❘ NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS


NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS


A year after the devastating fire at Notre-Dame, Caroline Harrap looks at what comes next for the world-famous cathedral – and discovers why its future could still be at risk


S


tanding across the Seine from Notre-Dame on the edge of the Left Bank, it’s hard to believe that this time last year a fire almost consumed this cornerstone of Paris. Illuminated by the spring sunshine, the stone façade looks immaculate, with no hint of damage, and the twin bell towers appear


reassuringly sturdy. At first glance, things seem almost normal. Look a little harder, though, and the signs are there. Just to the rear of the cathedral, a tall crane towers over the site – which is itself surrounded by a vast metal perimeter fence. Inside, the throngs of wide-eyed tourists have been replaced by workers in hard hats. Most poignantly of all, there is that aching shock of empty space where the iconic spire once stood. For so long such an integral part of the Paris skyline, the 19th-century flèche was lost to the flames on that fateful night, along with much of the medieval roof. It was one of those defining moments in history where everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing – and the sense of loss, certainly locally, is just as profound a year later.


“A neighbour phoned to tell me the news,” says British-born


author, Annabel Simms, who lives just across the river from the cathedral on the Île Saint-Louis. “I didn’t believe her, but went to the window to check. There, I saw a poisonous, yellow-grey pillar of smoke belching upwards into the blue sky – with the spire, the only part of the cathedral that was visible from my window, briefly outlined in flames. Then the spire was hidden by the smoke


❯❯ 58 ❘ FRANCE TODAY Apr/May 2020


Main picture and above: Shocked onlookers watch as the cathedral burns; work is under way to rescue Notre- Dame, which remains at risk


IMAGES © SHUTTERSTOCK, CAROLINE HARRAP


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