I'm french. Live in Paris. I do not understand the excitement the world has for Notre Dame.
Question for you, reader: what does the fire and/or the rebuild means to you? Why do you care?
I'm guessing it's because of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", which if I recall correctly, Victor Hugo wrote to (successfully) stimulate desire to repair/restore the cathedral around 1800.
For me, personally, I think that Gothic architecture is the height of beauty, especially the interior. Notre Dame is one of the first examples, and was built quickly enough to have a consistent architecture (also Chartres and Amiens). Many Gothic cathedrals took 100 years to build and you can see variations in the architectural style in the different pieces which lessons the beauty somewhat. I also like the French circular apse rather than the English square apse (although that does allow for a gorgeous, huge window).
I also think beauty is important, especially in buildings, and Notre Dame is just a great example. It's beautiful inside and out. I've even spent quite a long time just enjoying the beauty of the back side.
For a lot of cultural/literary reasons, I think it's just iconic in a way that many other (at least equally beautiful) cathedrals--that most people probably couldn't even name, even the ones in Paris--are not.
I consider it to be a more recent (but still very old) entry in a category of human constructions that also includes the Parthenon, the Colosseum, the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu, and Stonehenge.
I visited Notre Dame the first time I was in Paris, stood in the queue, climbed the stairs and took the photos everyone takes and have positive associations of the trip. The age, location and the view all help make nice memories that I guess many visitors feel. Victor Hugo & Disney probably add to that for others.
prewett|1 year ago
For me, personally, I think that Gothic architecture is the height of beauty, especially the interior. Notre Dame is one of the first examples, and was built quickly enough to have a consistent architecture (also Chartres and Amiens). Many Gothic cathedrals took 100 years to build and you can see variations in the architectural style in the different pieces which lessons the beauty somewhat. I also like the French circular apse rather than the English square apse (although that does allow for a gorgeous, huge window).
I also think beauty is important, especially in buildings, and Notre Dame is just a great example. It's beautiful inside and out. I've even spent quite a long time just enjoying the beauty of the back side.
ghaff|1 year ago
snakeyjake|1 year ago
dmoo|1 year ago
daghamm|1 year ago
Notre Dame got to hold the French record for number of selfie sticks per m^2.
ladyinthelake|1 year ago
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