Crown of Thorns saved from Notre Dame fire
The Notre Dame cathedral in Paris is home to ancient relics held sacred by Catholics, and as the structure burned on Monday, there were fears that all of the irreplaceable items inside might be destroyed.
By late Monday, police announced that the fire was under control, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo shared some good news: The Crown of Thorns, a relic believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ, was safe, along with the Tunic of Saint Louis. She also said several pieces of artwork made it out unscathed, but did not specify which pieces. The cathedral is filled with paintings and sculptures, including a series of 76 paintings depicting the New Testament's Acts of the Apostles and a 1648 portrait of St. Thomas Aquinas.
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It's unclear if the famous stained-glass Rose Windows, dating back to the 13th century, have been damaged or destroyed, and there is also no word yet on the fragment of the True Cross and the Holy Nail that were kept inside the cathedral's treasury. Because the cathedral is being renovated, some items had been removed before the fire started.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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