The world watched in horror as a fire tore through Notre-Dame de Paris on April 15, 2019. The 800-year-old cathedral is the most popular tourist destination in France. Although it was severely damaged, the French government passed a law requiring that the cathedral be rebuilt exactly as it was before the fire.
Luckily, researchers made high-tech scans of Notre-Dame in 2015, which will help ensure that it’s restored with incredible accuracy. But one of the biggest challenges is how the cathedral was built. Notre-Dame’s design is Gothic, which was a popular style between the 12th and 16th centuries. Soaring arches, tall stone towers, detailed sculptures, and ornate stained-glass windows are all signatures of Gothic architecture.
Unlike modern buildings, Notre-Dame has no understructure, or framework, holding it up. Instead, it was built using a traditional technique called stone masonry. Chris Pellettieri, a stone carver who helped renovate the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City explains: “All the true Gothic cathedrals were built of stone upon stone.”
On April 15, 2019, a fire tore through Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. People around the world watched in horror as it burned. The cathedral is 800 years old and the most popular tourist destination in France. It was severely damaged in the blaze. But the French government passed a law requiring that the cathedral be rebuilt. They said it should look exactly as it did before the fire.
Luckily, researchers made high-tech scans of Notre-Dame in 2015. That will help architects restore the cathedral with incredible accuracy. But rebuilding the structure will still be a big challenge. That’s partly because of how the cathedral was built.
Notre-Dame has a Gothic design. This style was popular from the 12th to 16th centuries. It features soaring arches and tall stone towers. Detailed sculptures and stained-glass windows decorate its walls.
Unlike modern buildings, Notre-Dame has no metal framework to hold it up. Instead, it was built entirely of stone arranged to support its own weight. This traditional technique is called stone masonry. Chris Pellettieri is a stone carver who helped renovate a similar cathedral in New York City. “All the true Gothic cathedrals were built of stone upon stone,” he explains.