Notre-Dame Cathedral

April 15, 2019. Anyone who saw it will never forget it: Notre-Dame on fire. Smoke billowing from gashes in its roof. Flames licking at its famous rose windows. The iconic Viollet-le-Duc spire collapsed into the wreckage. But because of the heroism and determination of Paris’s firefighters, Notre-Dame survived. And because of the talents of a small army of master craftspeople, the cathedral is reborn, filled once again with light and beauty. Anyone who saw the reopening ceremony in 2025 will never forget that, either: A grateful nation, on its feet, honoring with the longest standing ovations the citizens who made it all possible. A testament to the tenacity of history.