Art on fire: the burning Notre Dame and 8 more iconic fires

The whole world, holding its breath, watched the footage of the burning Notre Dame. The fire in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris began in the evening of April 15. All night about 400 firemen fought the fire and defeated it only on the morning of April 16. The fire destroyed part of the wooden roof and collapsed the XIX century spire. The interior of the Gothic cathedral was also damaged.

 

There was a danger that the fallen roof would destroy the stone vault and lead to significant damage to the entire cathedral building of the XII-XIV centuries, however, the main part of the vaults of Notre Dame survived. Both towers and medieval vestments have also been preserved.

The causes of the fire will be established during the investigation initiated by the French prosecutor's office. It is assumed that what happened may be connected with the restoration work in the temple.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris is far from the only architectural structure that has suffered from fire since the beginning of the XNUMXst century. Moreover, the causes of fires that destroyed buildings and works of art were completely different. About the burnt historical and cultural heritage - in the collection PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA.

Momart warehouse in London, 2004

Momart is a British company specializing in the storage and transportation of works of art, whose services are used by the Royal Academy of Arts, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Buckingham Palace, and so on. In 2004, a fire broke out at the company's warehouse. According to the report, the fire spread from the neighboring premises, which was rented by a home electronics repair shop. According to the investigation, robbers broke in there and started a fire. Ultimately, the fire destroyed more than 100 works of famous British artists, including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Gary Hume, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Helen Chadwick and others. The total value of the lost masterpieces is up to 50 million pounds sterling.

Consequences of the fire at the Momart warehouse in London, 2004
Consequences of the fire at the Momart warehouse in London, 2004

Namdaemun Gate in Seoul, 2008

The construction of Namdaemun Gate in Seoul began during the Joseon Dynasty and was carried out from 1395 to 1398. Namdaemun was one of the three main gates through the fortress walls with a length of 18 kilometers and a height of 6 meters. The structure is a two-story wooden pagoda set on a stone platform. The gate is the oldest wooden building in Seoul and was recognized as the number one national treasure of South Korea. In February 2008, a fire seriously damaged the wooden pagoda. A resident of Seoul, who decided to take revenge on the authorities for not helping him in a dispute with a developer, confessed to arson. He entered the second level of the gate, poured solvent and set it on fire with a lighter. In May 2013, the restored Namdaemun Gate was reopened to the public.

Namdaemun Gate in Seoul after the fire in 2008
Namdaemun Gate in Seoul after restoration, 2013

Al-Madinah market in Aleppo, 2012

Al-Madina is a covered market in the center of the old part of Aleppo, Syria. The construction of narrow shopping streets here began back in the 2012th century, then it grew and at the moment is considered the largest covered historical market in the world. Many parts of the market, including medieval structures, were destroyed at the end of September 30 as a result of mortar shelling and fires that started because of it. In total, as a result of the fighting between government forces and the Free Syrian Army, about 1986% of the old city of Aleppo, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in XNUMX, was destroyed. Restoration works are now underway.

Consequences of the destruction of Al-Madinah market in Aleppo
Al-Madinah in Aleppo

Ahmed Baba Institute, 2013

Ahmed Baba Institute is a library and research center in Timbuktu (Mali), which was founded in 1973. The current building was designed by DHK Architects and completed in 2009. On January 28, 2013, Islamists fleeing from the French and Malian troops set fire to the center, which housed about 300 manuscripts of the 000th and XNUMXth centuries before the start of hostilities. Most of the manuscripts were preserved because the local administration took them out of the library even before the city was captured by the Islamists. Currently, under the supervision of UNESCO, there is a program of digitization of manuscripts.

The new building of the Ahmed Baba Institute
Burnt manuscripts at the Ahmed Baba Institute

Virgen de la Barca temple in Muhyia, 2013

The Virgen de la Barca temple in Muhyia was one of the main attractions of the Spanish region of Galicia. Before this part of Spain converted to Christianity, there was a Celtic shrine here. The current temple was built in the 25th century - right on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. On December 2013, XNUMX, a severe fire broke out in the church. The probable cause is a lightning strike in the transformer booth near the cathedral. A stormy wind quickly fanned the fire, after a couple of hours the roof collapsed and the interior of the church, including the altars, was completely burned.

Virgen de la Barca Church in Muhyia
Fire in Virgen de la Barca church in Muhyia
Virgen de la Barca Church in Muhyia

National Museum of Natural History in New Delhi, 2016

The National Museum of Natural History was founded in New Delhi in 1972. It was the first and only natural history museum in India, there was a large collection of flora and fauna, several ancient fossils, including a sauropod dinosaur bone. All exhibits were destroyed as a result of a fire that broke out in the early morning of April 26, 2016. About 200 firefighters and 35 vehicles took part in the extinguishing, it took them more than three and a half hours to put out the fire. The destructive effect was caused by the fact that the fire protection system of the building failed, and the wooden exhibits contributed to the spread of the fire.

Fire at the National Museum of Natural History in New Delhi

Assumption Church in Kondopogh, 2018

The Church of the Assumption was located in the historical part of the city of Kondopoga (Republic of Karelia) on the shore of Lake Onega. Built in 1774, the temple was considered a monument of Zaonezh wooden architecture and an object of cultural heritage. Before the fire, the iconostasis in the Baroque style and the iconopic sky ceiling were preserved there. The wooden building burned down in August 2018. According to the investigation, the arson was committed by a 15-year-old teenager who was staying with his grandmother in Kondopogh. Assumption Church was restored several times in the XNUMXth century, but by the time it was destroyed by fire, it was already very dilapidated. Historians know about three more churches that stood on this very spot: they all burned down.

Ashes on the site of the Dormition Church in Kondopogh
Assumption Church in Kondopogh

National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, 2018

The National Museum of Brazil was founded by King Juan VI of Portugal in 1818. In 1892, he moved to the San Cristobal Palace - the former residence of the Portuguese royal family and Brazilian emperors, which later served as the place for writing the first Brazilian constitution. In the evening of September 2, 2018, a fire broke out in the museum building. According to the police report, it was caused by a short circuit in the air conditioning system. Due to problems with the water supply, the firemen did not manage to quickly put it out - almost one facade of the former palace remained, and nine out of ten of the museum's exhibits were lost. The museum had one of the largest collections in North and South America, consisting of more than 20 million objects - Indian dishes, Egyptian and South American antiquities, archaeological artifacts.

The National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro before the fire
Fire in the National Museum of Brazil
The National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro after the fire