After the stupor, hope. Rebuilding the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is possible, it has already been seen. The cathedral of Chartres burned in 1836, that of Nantes in 1972. Both are well standing today.
The case of Reims Cathedral
The cathedral of Reims, seat of the coronation of the kings of France, is perhaps the most similar case to that of Paris. On September 19, 1914, two months after the start of the First World War, the oak carpentry of the Gothic building caught fire after intense German bombing. The roof melts, the lead pours on the gargoyles, and the bas-reliefs explode. The cathedral is only a skeletal silhouette, covered with ashes. Throughout the conflict, the martyred edifice, whose towers are 81 meters high, is regularly bombed.
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But as soon as the war ends, reconstruction begins, financed by the state and private patrons. "For a while, there was a temporary ceiling.The frame was redone in the 20's." As early as 1927, the nave had been opened ", says the historian Patrick Demouy, interviewed by Europe 1. If it was so fast in Reims is that we chose the reinforced concrete to rebuild the frame. This remarkable structure, lighter and non-flammable, consists of small prefabricated reinforced concrete elements, connected by oak keys to ensure the flexibility of the whole.
The case of Strasbourg Cathedral
The question of the frame will arise during the reconstruction of Notre-Dame. Will it have to be rebuilt identically using oak wood - the one that burned Monday night was from the 13th century - or will it be necessary to opt for modern materials? For its part, Strasbourg chose ... both. After the fire of the cathedral in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian conflict, the frame is redone in wood. Then 100 years later, it is protected by firewalls. "Restoration is only compromises, there is no ideal solution, at a given moment choices have to be made, here in Strasbourg it has been to partition the framework of the nave into three sections. parts, to limit the spread in case of fire ", describes Eric Salmon, technical director of Notre-Dame.
In Paris, historical monuments gave a delay: Notre-Dame will be repaired in 15 years. Emmanuel Macron has set himself "five years". Given the magnitude of donations, money will not be missed. It remains to make the technical choices that will adapt to this duration.
And the Parliament of Brittany?
It is not a cathedral, but the Parliament of Brittany is also an example of resilience. On the night of February 4 to 5, 1994, following a demonstration by fishermen, the building was hit by a distress rocket, which set fire to the 17th century structure, which collapsed and destroyed several halls. historical documents. It will take no less than ten years, 55 million euros and the mobilization of fifty companies to restore one of the jewels of the Breton heritage.
Marie-Line Quéro, at the time was a heritage engineer at Drac de Bretagne, estimates from her experience that it will take "20 years, 30 years" to rebuild Notre-Dame. "Reconstruction is not a race against the clock, otherwise we do not make the right decisions, I remember the canvases we had taken down when we had to replace them, if the architect did not did not say that it was from the top of the Parliament that we had to pass them, and not from below, we could not put them back in. There is an urgent need not to rush ", enjoins the specialist at the microphone of Europe 1.