On the evening of April 15, 2019, the 850-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was caught in a shocking fire, and after more than 12 hours of burning, about two-thirds of the medieval roof structure was burned, the iconic 19th-century minaret collapsed, and the church was piled with rubble of oak.
French authorities and all sectors of society reacted quickly to the reconstruction of the church, and after two years of progress, with three years to go before the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the restoration of Notre Dame cathedral had made progress, and also announced the time for its reopening.
At present, all the burned wood on the roof of Notre Dame has been removed, and scaffolding has been installed inside the church. In homage to the structure of this World Heritage Site and the "collective effort to rebuild Notre Dame," the Catholic University of America is using construction techniques from the Middle Ages to replicate a roof truss of the Washington, D.C. Cathedral in the United States, in order to contribute to the restoration of Notre Dame in the future.
After a process of reinforcement of the complex cathedral structure, the actual restoration work will begin later this year. After the debris has been removed, Notre Dame will reinforce the main body with a wooden frame and support the buttresses with tie rods. Experts are currently working on the best plan for restoring the interior of the church.
Restorations of the church roof and minaret will be built using 1,000 oak trees harvested from across France, and the iconic elements in these buildings are expected to begin reconstruction in the autumn of 2022.
According to project leader Jean Louis Georgelin, it is possible that Notre Dame cathedral could be opened for the 2024 French Olympics, but its restoration work will not end until long after 2024.
Currently, the Catholic University's School of Architecture and Planning and the nonprofit Handhouse Studio have hosted a workshop in Washington, D.C., where they gathered a group of carpenters, students, and faculty and researchers to reconstruct a full-size Notre Dame truss using medieval construction techniques. The team "respects the importance of cultural heritage and has world-class cohesion", and the project they are undertaking is not only an exploration of past construction techniques, but also an opportunity to gain insight into notre dame cathedral as a World Heritage Site.
About Notre Dame Cathedral
Notre Dame de Paris is the world's first gothic church in the full sense, the carving art and painting art of the architectural body and the large number of art treasures treasured in the hall have high historical and cultural value and a world reputation at home and abroad, and are the symbol of Paris, France, and the world's mainstream religion Christian holy place.
The plan of Notre Dame de Paris is a long horseshoe Gothic Latin cross, with a total length of about 127 meters, a total width of about 48 meters, a total height of 130 meters, a total construction area of 5500 square meters, and a total area of 6000 square meters.
"In 1163 (Notre Dame de Paris) construction began, that year Xin Began to serve as an official for the Southern Song Dynasty; it was completed in 1345, when Zhu Yuanzhang began to become a monk." As Zhang Jiawei, a writer in France, said, for the past 8 centuries, Notre Dame has been sitting on the central island of Paris, watching the Seine River flowing by.
Sources: Archdaily, Wallpaper, Wikipedia