'Notre Dame De Paris' - by K J S Chatrath

A sudden massive fire that destroyed a good portion of Cathedral of Notre Dame De Paris has left millions the world over stunned and sad. I too am one of those many. Since I am an atheist, it is not the religious connotations that caused me despair but the loss of a historical and architecturally superb monument that had become synonymous with Paris.

I looked up my old photos I found that when I had visited this cathedral briefly from outside in 2009, I had taken a few photos. Much earlier I had attended the midnight mass there on 24th December 1982.

Let me share some of the photos that I took in 2009.

On 2^nd December 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned as Napoleon I, in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Pope Pius VII handed Napoleon the crown that the 35-year-old placed on his own head. He was the first Frenchman to hold the title of emperor in a thousand years. The painting has imposing dimensions, as it is almost 10 metres (33 ft) wide by a little over 6 metres (20 ft) tall. The work is held in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The Coronation of Napoleon (Le Sacre de Napoléon) is a painting completed in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David, the official painter of Napoleon. Photo source: Wikipedia.

Photo source: internet

Photo source: internet

Looking forward to an early restoration of this unique cathedral and monument.