The iconic Parisian landmark suffered a devastating fire on Monday, with the blaze destroying two-thirds of the ancient cathedral’s roof, its clock and its 300-foot spire.
Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen has called the fire which engulfed the Notre Dame Cathedral a “tragic symbol” of the “apocalyptic loss of values we are witnessing in the Western world,” AP has reported, citing an excerpt from an interview set to be broadcast on Hungarian news channel Hir TV next week.
The Notre Dame, an irreplaceable example of ancient French Gothic architecture, went up in flames on Monday evening, and burned into the early hours of Tuesday morning as firefighters struggled to douse the flames. The cathedral was built between the 12th and 14th centuries, and was the site of royal marriages, coronations and farewell ceremonies for prominent French officials over many centuries, becoming one of the most prominent landmarks of the French capital.