The basement, the vaults, the libraries, the halls, the hidden rooms, the subbasement, off site

[Ninga]

storage, everywhere historic art treasures from the beginning of time owned by the keepers of the Vatican. Not religious art...but secular art from the height of the Renaissance .

Ya would think that if the iconic and venerated Norte Dame needed repairs years ago,
the Vatican could have loaned them a few....

What a waste.

[OneBlueDotBama]

1. It's owned by the Government of France. N/T

[Ninga]

2. I had to recheck the history. Napoleon signed the cathedral back over to the Church in 1801.

Even if it were still owned by France, the Vatican has a responsibility in maintaining their houses of worship. Such a shame that all their wealth does no good for anyone or any thing.

[OneBlueDotBama]

7. From Wiki

Under a 1905 law, Notre-Dame de Paris is among seventy churches in Paris built before that year that are owned by the French State. While the building itself is owned by the state, the Catholic Church is the designated beneficiary, having the exclusive right to use it for religious purpose in perpetuity. The archdiocese is responsible for paying the employees, security, heating and cleaning, and assuring that the cathedral is open free to visitors. The archdiocese does not receive subsidies from the French State

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame_de_Paris

[Ninga]

14. Thanks.

[kentuck]

3. Thousands of priceless artwork...

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/saint-michel-square-notre-dame-edouard-henri-leon-cortes.html

[Iterate]

18. The artwork may have been saved.

That's from this one source, at least.

Link to tweet

[renate]

19. That's really impressive!

And wonderful news.

[kentuck]

20. That will be great!

It is a preservation of history and humanity.

[TeamPooka]

25. Translation is : "Good news: all the artworks have been saved. The treasure of the cathedral...

is intact, the crown of thorns, the holy sacraments. "

[CabalPowered]

27. That's great news!

[maxsolomon]

4. It was being repaired. There was scaffolding all around the spire.

The repairs probably sparked the blaze.

Your rush to judgment is inappropriate and you should self-delete.

[Ninga]

9. As I clearly understood and heard, there has been a long effort to raise monies for drastically

needed repairs and maintenance.

This started many years ago. A lack of abundant funds leads to only doing what's absolutely needed and certainly not to the highest bidder who may have the best construction practices.

[maxsolomon]

12. Really? Do you know who the General Contractor was? What the budget was?

What the shortfall was? How the project was bid? What the scope of the restoration was? What was Value Engineered out of the project? What corners they cut on fire suppression? Did they cut corners on fire suppression?

You don't know. Hindsight is 20/20.

[Ninga]

16. All I learned was that there was and is an ongoing struggle to raise renovation monies. I

do not know anything else except it caught on fire. Maybe we will learn, maybe we won't. All I do know is that never ever should such a world treasure be allow to deteriorate to the point of extreme intervention. It doesn't have to be that way. It didn't have to for Nortre Dame.

[Ninga]

13. In my other life I worked for a architectural firm specializing in historic

renovation.

They were hired to oversee and employ deferred maintenance plans for many historic buildings.

They made sure that contractors were qualified in historic guidelines and procedures before they could even bid.

I am crushed and angry that this fire is robbing history of this magnificent cathedral and most likely forever lost.

[maxsolomon]

15. I'm crushed and incredilbly upset.

My 1st instinct is not to blame.

[Ninga]

17. I understand and appreciate your view. I guess you already know mine. Nt

[Hekate]

5. Given the extent of the renovations, I hope many items were offsite. nt

[Recursion]

11. That's the only slightly bright spot: a lot of the movable art had been moved out

But holy crap this is a disaster

[UniteFightBack]

21. Another bright spot is that nobody has died. nt

[lostnfound]

23. Another bright spot is that it is believed to have been accidental

Glad it wasn't a malicious act

[Blue Owl]

6. Pipe organs ain't cheap either

Add another couple million...

[Fozzledick]

8. But at least replaceable.

They just don't make Renaissance art like they used to!

[Recursion]

10. Some of those pipe organs *are* themselves Renaissance art

Unfortunately.

[Iggo]

24. LOL...thanks.

Laughter through tears.

[Wednesdays]

26. Sort of

Saying the Notre Dame organ is replaceable is like saying a Stradivarius violin is replaceable.

[lindysalsagal]

22. The Roman ruins directly below are now flooded and ruined

I mean. They were already ruins, but now, the excavation is ruined

Those were 3rd century, right before the fall of the empire. I saw them. Really cool.