Parisians gathered at the Pont de la Tournelle near Notre Dame Cathedral to sing hymns, after a huge fire destroyed much of the structure’s roof and spire. Image: AFP/GettyConstruction on Notre Dame began in Paris in the 1160s. The astonishing building, a technological and artistic marvel in that day and this, survived scarred but intact through the Reformation, the French Revolution, the Nazi invasion and other horrors of the 20th century. Catastrophe arrived unexpectedly and perhaps accidentally in a terrible fire on Monday.

Source: Wall Street Journal April 15, 2019 22:55 UTC