Summary
The newly restored 850-year-old Notre-Dame Cathedral will reopen on December 7, five years after the devastating 2019 fire.
The €700m renovation has revitalized the Gothic masterpiece, preserving its historical integrity while incorporating modern safety upgrades like sprinkler systems.
The project involved 2,000 skilled craftsmen, boosting traditional trades such as stone-carving and woodwork.
Key features, including stained-glass windows and artwork, were saved, while the spire and roof timbers were reconstructed.
Look back far enough and everyone is a monster
Exactly; not to minimize what the French did (it was horrible even by colonial standards, although not quite as brutal as the Belgians) but if we went after every former coloniser like LordGimp does, there’d hardly be anyone left. I’ve never seen “anti-colonialist” people talk about expelling Arabs from North Africa, or Turks from Turkey — it’s directed only at western countries, seemingly completely oblivious to the vast tapestry of warfare and abuse perpetrated by others even while Europeans were still living in mud huts.
Which western country am I going after if I say “free Tibet”?
It’s never been about western overexposure or who is culturally dominant in what category, it’s about greed. It’s ALWAYS been about greed. And 700 million dollars for a monument to slavery, cultural obliteration, and toxic patriarchy is extremely greedy.
It’s been years since I’ve seen or heard anyone say this, but maybe that’s just me. In any case, thanks for bringing it up — anything China-related tends to be controversial here.
If we were talking about the 19th century I’d agree wholeheartedly, but I really don’t think that fits here. N-D was built centuries before France (or anyone else) had ships capable of making it even a fraction of the way to SE Asia. The word “colony” was something used in a historical context while discussing the Greeks; not a government policy. The same goes for slavery, which was extremely uncommon in Europe at that time (but fairly widely practised in Africa and the Middle East). Slavery was only embraced by Europeans during the age of sail and colonisation.
All that to say, what you’re saying is right in its historical context, but this is not at all that historical context.