otre Dame suffered desecration during the 1789 French Revolution and was restored by 1804, when it was the venue for Napoleon’s coronation as emperor of France. A restoration project between 1844 and 1864 added the cathedral's iconic spire, which was destroyed in a fire on 15 April when Notre Dame was undergoing renovation. Fortunately the copper statues that were normally on the now collapsed spire had been removed a week earlier in the renovation process, and both towers were also safe, but two-thirds of the roof was destroyed. Many artefacts were saved before the fire spread to other parts of the cathedral. France will invite architects from around the world to submit designs for a new spire that is adapted to the techniques and the challenges of our era, as thoughts turn to how to reconstruct what has been lost. President Macron vowed it will be rebuilt ‘even more beautifully’. See