After more than 800 years, the cathedral’s heritage is
A fire ripped through the famed Notre Dame cathedral Monday evening in Paris leaving people around the world in shock at the loss of the historic building.
As well as the home church for thousands of local Catholics who attend regular services, the cathedral is a huge attraction in the City of Lights, with tourists coming from across the world to see the building’s historic architecture and artifacts.
As tributes and offers of help roll in from around the world, Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of UNESCO, said her agency is “standing by France’s side to safeguard and restore this invaluable heritage”—a reminder of just how important this cathedral has been for centuries.
A man watches the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral burn, engulfed in flames, in central Paris on April 15. Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images
With an distinctive French Gothic style, Notre Dame cathedral took nearly 200 years to build.
