Pune: Not just in France, but in several countries, many people broke down after hearing the news of Notre Dame in Paris collapsing due to fire on Monday. The historic cathedral came down after a massive fire broke out and destroyed the artistic and architectural marvel.
France is one of the most loved destinations of Puneites as they fondly remembered their visits to the monument and many travellers had only one word for the tragedy - ‘devastating’.
“The Notre Dame Cathedral was one of the first monuments in Paris I visited, as I shifted here for studies. I think this may be one of the worst tragedies in this country,” said Pranav Pandit, a History teacher from Pune, who has been staying in France for the past eight years.
“Whether people are religious or not or Francophile or not, every art student has got to have a little bit of heartbreak to not be able to see this monument in its prime shape,” he added.
Hoping that the monument gets restored soon, I-T manager Amit Swami said, “It was so sad to see one of the most beautiful and peaceful place, Notre Dame, to be on fire. My wife and I had taken our
two-year-old son there last year. There is so much with this monument, there is history, there is architecture, there is culture. It was an amazing experience to learn all about that. I really wish that this amazing place gets restored to its its former glory soon so that I can visit it again.”
As the clouds of smoke cleared and people actually saw what was lost, art lovers and travellers from across the globe have begun sending in funds for restoring the cathedral.
“The cathedral was quite beautiful and grandiose. I would say that it is probably more visited than other monuments such as Pantheon, Catacomb, etc., such was its popularity. Many people pledged money for rebuilding it. The total amount has now become a billion Euros,” Aseem Kshirsagar, PhD researcher, Grenoble-INP said.
He also added that this has also been receiving a flak from some people. “Few of my friends here think that it is too much of an amount to spend on such monuments. Such a vast amount of money could be used more efficiently to fight against poverty and climate change instead,” Kshirsagar said.
