“IF THIS MONUMENT is at some point completed,” wrote Robert de Thorigny, a Twelfth-century Norman monk, of Notre Dame cathedral, “no different will ever evaluate.” The gothic edifice on an island within the ancient middle of Paris is most likely now not distinctive. Nevertheless it touches other folks—the non secular and the secular, French and non-French—in surprisingly tough tactics. This can be a position of worship, a testomony to human ingenuity and a logo of resilience. When at the night time of April fifteenth 2019 flames engulfed its timbered roof and toppled its spire, the surprise and sorrow had been international.