The flames of the catastrophic fire, demolished several parts of the beautiful cathedral. But the good news is that many of its most important treasures were saved. The imposing bell towers and its gorgeous rose windows remain intact. Local authorities in France plan to investigate and find the causes behind this tragedy. They also announced that they are going to rebuild the cathedral and repair everything the flames destroyed. They say what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger and this could be true for Notre Dame. So, regardless of your position on organized religion, here follow 25 Amazing Facts About Notre Dame Cathedral that will totally fascinate you. It was the first Catholic University in America to provide a degree in architecture, back in 1898. Many religious images were either damaged, or completely destroyed. During that restoration, the French added the cathedral’s iconic spire. Unfortunately, the spire collapsed in the recent massive fire. To put it simply, the new roof of the cathedral probably won’t look the same with the original. Archaeologists found more ancient ruins there during the 1960s and 1970s, which verified their original speculations. The ancient Greeks were the first to design and build a temple – the Parthenon – following the golden ratio (1:1.61). They were added in the 19th century, during the restoration that took place from 1844 to 1864. To make a long story short, Point Zero specifies where all distances to and from Paris are calculated from. Cool huh? Six years later, they will have to reconstruct and improve the cathedral again. Unfortunately, it won’t be for festive reasons this time. The greatest organist in the cathedral’s history, died a happy man. As he had stated many times before, his lifelong wish was to die at the console of the great organ of Notre Dame. Nobody knows yet if the beehive survived the flames.
