The recent fire in Notre Dame Cathedral has become a real tragedy not only for the French in general and residents of the capital in particular, but for the whole world.
This monument of culture and architecture is the same attraction as the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre.
Unfortunately, this case is far from the only one when the fire completely or partially destroyed historical monuments.
10. Palace of San Cristovan
The palace in Rio de Janeiro, built in the style of late classicism, was founded in 1803 and belonged to the Portuguese merchant Elias Antonio Lopez.
When, after 5 years, the royal court of Portugal moved to Brazil, he presented this estate to them as a gift that appealed to him and the royal people stayed in it for a long time until 1822. Then Brazil gained independence, and the palace became the residence of already local rulers.
September 2, 2018 in San Crisovan, which by that time had been the National Museum for many years, a fire broke out that destroyed almost the entire collection (there were about 20 million exhibits dedicated to different cultures) and the building itself.
9. “Shelter of the Eleven”
The hotel on Mount Elbrus was built in 1929 and initially was a spacious hut for about 40 people.
Later, after modernization and full completion, it could be compared with a first-class hotel in terms of comfort.
Located at an altitude of over 4 km above sea level, for 60 years it was “the highest” in the USSR and one of the highest in Europe.
During the war, the Germans occupied it, hoisting the Nazi flag on the top of the mountain, and after the Second World War it became a museum and a place from where climbers ascended to the top of the mountain.
By 1998, the building was practically abandoned and ownerless, and only rare tourist groups visited it. Presumably, it was their fault (violation of fire safety rules) that a fire occurred that completely destroyed the building, which was never restored.
8. National Museum of Natural History (New Delhi)
The construction of the museum began in 1972 and was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Indian independence. The grand opening took place after 6 years, and since then this place has become one of the most popular among tourists in the Indian capital.
Unfortunately, the museum did not last long: on April 26, 2016, a fire broke out, which in theory was supposed to neutralize the internal fire extinguishing system, but it turned out to be malfunctioning.
7. Plasco (shopping complex)
The building is 17 floors high located in the Iranian capital, the city of Tehran. Built in the early 60s of the last century, for some time it was the highest in the country.
It housed residential and commercial real estate, and on the ground floor there was a large shopping center, which was visited by all tourists.
The fire began on January 19, 2017 on the 9th floor, when people were in the building. Fortunately, it was only 8 in the morning, so there were relatively few people, but the dispersed flame, which led to the collapse, still claimed lives. So, 16 firefighters died during the extinguishing.
6. Yekaterinhof Palace
The project of the Italian architect Domenico Trezzini, founded in 1711 by Peter I, belonged to the imperial family.
Having an original exterior and interior, it was used very little, so it began to decline in 1779.
He was given a second life in 1825 by opening a museum there during the time of Peter the Great (by the way, the first museum-palace in Russia), but even in this capacity the palace did not last long: already in 1848, exhibits were gradually taken out of it.
The first fire happened in 1923 and was not catastrophic, but after that the fire returned twice more: in 1925 and 1926. After the last fire, the remains of the palace were pulled down for firewood.
5. Celsus Library
The oldest architectural monument on our list, built in 135. According to various estimates, about 12,000 scrolls were stored in the library building, which made it the second largest in antiquity: it was second only to the Alexandria library.
In the middle of the III century in the territory of modern Turkey, where the building was located, there were clashes with the Goths, and during their next raid there was a fire.
Despite the fact that the facade has survived, everything inside has completely burned down, thereby destroying unique records.
The landmark was completely reconstructed only in the 70s of the last century, making it a pretty visited place.
4. Glass Palace (Munich)
The palace, made of glass and cast iron, was built in 1854 on the territory of the Old Botanical Garden, and the Crystal Palace in the English capital was taken as a sample.
During the fire that occurred on June 6, 1931, the object completely burned down, but some of the exhibits were saved.
Nevertheless, about 3,000 pieces of art were destroyed, and thousands more were seriously damaged.
It is noteworthy that the Crystal Palace in London, which served as the basis for Munich, also burned down after 5 years.
3. Cypress Senator
In Florida Longwood Park, a huge cypress tree grew, named after Overstreet, the state senator. The tree had a height of 38 m and a diameter of 5.5 m, and due to the age of 3,500 years, it was one of the 5 oldest on the planet.
Thousands of tourists annually visited the living relic, until on January 16, 2012 a local resident made a fire, burning it to ashes in a few hours.
At the moment, a commemorative plaque is installed on the site of the cypress, and park workers are working on growing a new tree, which has already received the symbolic name Phoenix.
2. Namdaemun
The monument was built in 1398 and officially was one of the national treasures of the Republic of Korea.
The oldest building in Seoul, the gate survived many troubles, including the Korean War of the 50s, but even then they escaped with only damage.
Only a fire could destroy them on the night of February 11, 2008, when a local resident set fire to a wooden structure, embittered by the authorities.
1. Notre Dame de Paris
We finish with what we started with, namely Notre Dame, in which the fire occurred on April 15, 2019.
Fortunately, the coordinated work of firefighters was able to save the building from complete destruction, but the damage was still significant: for example, the spire and part of the roof collapsed due to the fire.
Now there is a campaign to raise funds for restoration, who want to help more than enough: for example, businessman and husband of actress Salma Hayek agreed to donate 100 million euros from his fund.