- Notre-Dame Cathedral, an over 850-year-old church in the heart of Paris, caught on fire on April 15, 2019.
- The iconic spire collapsed within an hour of the fire starting, and Paris deputy mayor, Emmanuel Gregoire, said the cathedral has suffered "colossal damages," according to CBS News.
- In addition to being a place of worship, it was home to many priceless artifacts and works of art endangered by the blaze.
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In a truly unbelievable scene, the Notre-Dame Cathedral was ablaze for hours — it was put out after intense work by firefighters. Thankfully, according to the New York Times, the building was found structurally sound, so an investigation can begin.
While it will likely take a few days to properly assess the damage and take stock of what has survived the fire and what has been destroyed, from relics of the patron saints of Paris to the largest organ in France, much of what could be lost is priceless.
Keep scrolling to see what firefighters were desperately trying to save.
A tiny piece of the Crown of Thorns that Jesus wore during his crucifixion is kept at the treasury at Notre-Dame. It was saved from the blaze.
The Crown of Thorns is a sacred relic, believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ himself. It's normally stored at the end of the nave of the cathedral, not readily visible to visitors.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris said that the Crown of Thorns, as well as other other holy relics, like the tunic of Saint Louis, worn by French King Louis IX in the 13th century, were saved from the fire.
Notre-Dame is home to stunning stained-glass windows: many of them melted in the blaze.
The cathedral is home to three stunning rose windows that feature stained-glass panes and date back to 1260.
According to one bishop of the Archdiocese of Paris, Benoist de Sinety, the lead welding holding the windows together melted — but at least one window remains intact.
Relics of both Saint Denis and Saint Genevieve were located inside the spire, which collapsed in the fire.
Denis and Genevieve are both the patron saints of Paris. Relics of theirs were placed atop the spire in 1935 by Archbishop Verdier to protect the church and its congregation from ill fortune.
The spire collapsed less than an hour after the fire began.
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