10 curiosities about the Cathedral of Notre Dame

In this post we will talk about some historic facts of Notre Dame Cathedral, but first, let's understand what happened and why France is crying today.

Around 6.50 pm in the French capital a fire is declared in the Notre Dame cathedral, according to a spokesman for the monument. The smoke was visible several kilometers away.

Firemen intervene shortly after seven o'clock. According to the authorities, the fire was "potentially linked" to the renovation of the building, the most visited historical monument in Europe. During these works, several statues had previously been removed with a crane for restoration.

The police have not reported if there are victims. The agents have cordoned off the area and evicted the numerous tourists who were inside the monument. The workers who work in the renovation of the building were absent at that time. According to Reuters, there is a firefighter "seriously injured".

Before 20.00, the recognizable needle that crowned the building has collapsed. The fire has also taken the attic of the cathedral and has collapsed part of the roof. Four hours after the fire was declared, about 400 firefighters were still trying to put it out, with the added difficulty that the height of the flames made it difficult for them to reach the water from the hoses. At the stroke of 23.00, the firemen have affirmed that the structure of the building "is saved as a whole". And already well into the early morning have given the fire by "partially suffocated." In addition, it has managed to rescue part of the treasure, such as the crown of thorns and the tunic of San Luis.

Here we present 10 essential facts about this historic site:

   - It is the most visited monument in France and Europe, with between 12 and 14 million visitors per year.
   - Admission is free and the French State, which owns the building, allocates 2 million euros per year for repairs.
   - It has three entrance doors full of allegories: the final judgment (central portal), the Virgin and the child (right portal) and the death of Mary (left portal).
   - Pope Alexander III laid the first stone in 1163, in the presence of King Louis VII.
   - It has two majestic towers of 69 meters high and to get to the top you have to climb 387 steps.
   - Its construction took little more than a century.
   - It was considered the largest Christian building in the western world at the end of the 12th century and during the first half of the 13th century.
   - Its famous gallery of the kings is composed of 28 statues of sovereigns who reigned before Jesus Christ.
   - It has 9 giant bells of 6 tons of copper and tin.
   - The writer Victor Hugo immortalized her in his bulky novel "Our Lady of Paris", whose story focuses on the story of the unfortunate Esmeralda, a gypsy woman; Quasimodo, a deaf hunchback; and Claude Frollo, an archdeacon, in fifteenth-century Paris.