What was saved — and what was lost — in the Notre Dame Cathedral fire
As the smoke began to clear from the devastating fire at Paris' Notre Dame cathedral, the world's attention shifted to the irreplaceable collection of artifacts and cultural items inside the more than 800-year-old landmark. While some of the priceless collection was lost forever in the flames, other pieces were spared. Here's a rundown of what remains and what does not.
Crown of Thorns
The cathedral's most precious relic — the Crown of Thorns — was saved by quick-thinking heroes. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted that the relic, believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ at his crucifixion, was among the pieces rescued from the fire.
Britain's Sky News and other outlets reported that Father Jean-Marc Fournier, chaplain of the Paris Fire Department, got closest to the danger zone in a human chain to retrieve the crown. The crown was obtained and brought to Paris in the 13th century by King Louis IX, who was later canonized as Saint Louis.
The Great Organ
Emmanuel Gregoire, a deputy mayor of Paris, said the famed Great Organ from Notre Dame, among the most famous and largest such instruments in the world, remained intact after the devastating blaze. The Great Organ, one of two in the cathedral, was built by Francois Thierry in the mid-18th century. It has an estimated 8,000 pipes.
The Tunic of St. Louis
The tunic of St. Louis, a centuries-old garment that was purported to have belonged to King Louis IX, was also rescued, according to Mayor Hidalgo.
Altar and cross
The cathedral's altar and a golden cross are still intact amid the scorched debris from the blaze. Photos showed both still standing along with many of the pews and surrounding statues.
Rooftop statues
Call it luck, good timing, or maybe divine intervention, but 16 religious statues had been removed from around the spire of Notre Dame just last week as part of a $6.8 million renovation being done at the cathedral. The statues depict the 12 apostles and four evangelists. They had been taken down by crane from the upper reaches of the cathedral and transported to a workshop near Bordeaux.
The spire collapsed in the blaze, so if the statues had been left in place they likely would have been lost.
Stained glass windows
Audrey Azoulay, director of the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that it's too early to say whether the treasured rose windows of Notre Dame survived unscathed, since art experts haven't been able to fully assess the site. Photos show some of the cathedral's elaborate stained glass windows still appear to be intact after the blaze.
Other windows, however, sustained extensive damage or appear to have been completely lost to the fire.
Church treasures
Candelabras, gilded furniture and other valuable pieces retrieved from Notre Dame Cathedral were taken to city hall in Paris after the fire. French Culture Minister Franck Riester told reporters in Paris on Tuesday that all of the art and artifacts rescued from the cathedral would be transferred to another Parisian landmark, the Louvre Museum, for safe keeping.
Lost in fire: Spire and relics
The spire on top of the Notre Dame dramatically collapsed during the fire, which destroyed about two-thirds of the roof. Candida Moss, professor of theology at Britain's University of Birmingham, told "CBS This Morning" that sacred artifacts within the spire are also feared to be gone.
"What they didn't save were the relics that were in the spire of the cathedral itself," Moss said. "They had small portions of the relics of St. Denis and St. Genevieve in the spire that are presumed lost."
See more photos from Notre Dame Cathedral during and after the fire below.
