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856 to be exact.
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To put that into perspective: That’s hundreds of years of conflicts, invasions, leaders, plagues, crusades, etc.
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It was damaged, defaced, and looted during the French Revolution.
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In the mid-1800s it was underwent 20 years of renovations and was back to form.
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It survived World War I.
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It survived World War II.
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For over 850 years it was a symbol of Paris, of French history, of even world history.
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And then the fire happened.
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In a few hours, it burnt down.
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But we have to remember this isn’t the first time something like this has happened in history.
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The Monte Cassino monastery was completely destroyed during World War II — this is what it looked like before war:
Bettmann / Bettmann Archive
And this is what it looked like after the war:
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It was rebuilt.
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The Dresden Frauenkirche in Germany was destroyed during World War II.
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It was rebuilt with new and old stones from the original.
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Basically what happened was an almost unthinkable tragedy.
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But history is definitely on our side.
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This wasn’t the first and will certainly not be the last time something like this happens.
As President Obama said: «It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost – but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can.»
This article was originally writing by: BUZZFEED.COM
