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Spire collapsed: https://twitter.com/patrickgaley/status/1117848909877895171

The spire which collapsed was a reconstruction built during the restoration in the mid-19th Century.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, Restored by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Jean Baptiste Lassus -- http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/vld/3.html

"The Commission on Historical Monuments approved most of Viollet-le-Duc's plans, but rejected his proposal to remove the choir built under Louis XIV. Viollet-le-Duc himself turned down a proposal to add two new spires atop the towers, arguing that such a monument "would be remarkable but would not be Notre Dame de Paris". Instead, he proposed to rebuild the original medieval spire and bell tower over the transept, which had been removed in 1786 because it was unstable in the wind."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Viollet-le-Duc#Not...

Many of these wooden structures are nearly 1,000 years old. The spire itself only dates from the 19th century.

is that accurate? https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-47942176 suggests the spire dates back to 12th century whereas Wikipedia suggests, to your point, that it was recreated in the 19th century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame_de_Paris#Towers_and...

The old spire was taken down after the Revolution because it was in bad state and in danger of falling over the structure. A new one was built in the big mid-19th restoration of Viollet-le-Duc. Source, the chief architect of the current restoration works in this very interesting video tour (in French): https://www.facebook.com/lemonde.fr/videos/10155299594692590...

Does wood really last that long? I know ancient Japanese wooden temples are basically rebuilt every 30 years or so, a constant renewal akin to the Ship of Theseus. Are European wooden structures similarly renewed?

There are still some 12th century wooden churches in Norway that still have most of the original wood: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stave_church#Old_stave_churche...

Wood, if properly taken care of and kept dry, will last basically forever. I’d imagine they do that in Japan because of humidity or so.

They do it in Japan because they choose to. Rebuilding it every generation is a religious ritual tied closely to Shintoism. The buildings certainly aren't rotting out completely over that short timeframe!

Many Americans live in wooden houses that are much older than that. The biggest problem tends to be termites.

Here's a 1200-yr old wooden church: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensted_Church

Protected from fungus (rot) and insects, wood can last indefinitely. How to achieve that, of course, varies widely.

Only one temple in Japan is continuously rebuilt. Many others are several centuries old.

All I can say is "fuck...."

I'm truly heartbroken

I'm shocked and that's rare in these days of chaos. The powerlessness hurts

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