Notre Dame's 3 iconic rose windows are safe after the fire

Rose windows in Notre Dame.
(Image credit: Patrick Kovarik/Getty Images)

More tiny pieces of good news keep coming out of Paris.

After the Notre Dame Cathedral was ravaged Monday in a massive fire, CNN has confirmed its three rose windows are safe, along with its great organ. Paris' mayor confirmed earlier that the Crown of Thorns and Tunic of Saint Louis were also preserved, but the fate of some artworks still remains unknown.

Notre Dame's walls feature three massive stained glass windows, with the oldest North Rose built around 1250 and its South and West counterparts built shortly after. Along with the windows that line its bottom, the largest South Rose measures more than 60 feet high, per the church's website.

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The West Rose, meanwhile, lies behind the great organ. Its oldest pipes date back to medieval times, but organ makers modified the instrument over the centuries until it reached its current total of about 7,800 pipes. The Archbishop of Paris told a CNN affiliate the organ was safe.

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It's still unclear whether two noteworthy relics — a nail believed to be from Jesus' crucifixion and a piece of the cross — are safe.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.