Dawn after the Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris

Flames broke out in the roof renovations of the 12^thcentury Notre Dame Cathedral at about 7:00 pm on Monday 15 April 2019. The spire and the roof collapsed.

Four hundred fire fighters contained the fire, although one was seriously injured.

This morning at dawn, at 6:57 am, some fire fighters continued to work on the roof top. These photographs are taken at dawn, 12 hours after the fire began.

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris had been undergoing much-needed renovations, planned for the next 10 years.

The medieval Gothic architecture required an extensive makeover to the exterior in particular. Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, the cathedral receives 13 million visitors each year – roughly 30,000 visitors per day.

Recent renovations include replacement of the stained-glass windows of the nave in the 1960s; cleaning of the front facade in the 2000s; and the replacement of several bells in 2013 for the cathedral’s 850th anniversary.

The current restoration was concentrated on the flying buttresses and their decorative limestone pinnacles, the gargoyles, the lead-covered spire, and masonry at the back of the cathedral.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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