Aerial images show the tragic extent of the damage caused to Paris' iconic Notre Dame Cathedral, ravaged by a massive blaze on Monday night.
After some 12 hours of burning, the 850-year-old Gothic building stands charred and broken. LIFE’s Gigarama project has created ‘The broken heart of Paris’, a 360-degree aerial panorama image, where you can zoom in and change your angle to survey the extent of Notre Dame’s devastation.
Pictures taken from above show the blackened expanse of its collapsed roof and a gaping hole in the center, where its spire used to be.
It took more than 400 firefighters to contain the blaze, which started in scaffolding erected for restoration works. The damage is still being assessed, and many of the relics kept inside Notre Dame are believed to have survived, but the roof, the spire and the cathedral clock were destroyed. Some of its newer 19th century stained-glass windows were damaged, but the main 13th century ones including the rose window survived.
The panorama is also available on Facebook.
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