bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Pledges from French billionaires, businesses and the public sector to help rebuild Notre Dame cathedral reached nearly 700 million euros (US$790 million) on Tuesday amid an outpouring of public support for one of Europe’s most iconic landmarks.
President Emmanuel Macron has vowed that the medieval cathedral will be restored after its spire and roof collapsed Monday night in a blaze thought to be linked to extensive renovation work.
French luxury group Kering, whose brands include Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci, kicked off the campaign late Monday with a promise of €100 million (US$113 million).
Kering chief Francois-Henri Pinault said the intricate lattice woodwork supporting the roof that was lost in the blaze had to be replicated. “This is why it’s going to be long, extensive, but we have to do it,” he told BBC radio.




That pledge was followed Tuesday by a €200 million pledge from Kering’s rival LVMH and the family of its founder Bernard Arnault.
French oil giant Total said it would contribute €100 million, and the L’Oreal cosmetics group and its founding Bettencourt family offered €200 million.
Other high-profile French donors included the investor Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere with €10 million, and construction magnates Martin and Olivier Bouygues, also with €10 million.
Macron vows to rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral within five years
Among other firms, the Credit Agricole bank gave €5 million, while US private equity investor Henry Kravis has promised US$10 million.

Corporate contributions are expected to climb, with blue-chip firms like Vinci, Michelin and BNP Paribas also saying they were weighing how to participate.
Air France said it would offer free flights to experts brought in to help with Notre Dame’s restoration.
Pledges were also pouring in from anonymous donors as well as groups including the privately run French Heritage Foundation, which said it had already secured pledges totalling €3.3 million.
Notre Dame must rise from the ashes
On a more modest scale, a fund set up on the Leetchi fundraising platform had topped €26,000 by Tuesday afternoon.
France 2 television said it will broadcast a special classical music concert Wednesday night as part of the fundraising effort.
And the French Council of the Muslim Faith also called on French Muslims to help save “an architectural masterpiece that is the honour of our country”.




Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the city would unlock €50 million, while the government of the greater Paris region promised €10 million.
And French insurer Groupama said it would supply the estimated 1,300 huge oak beams needed to re-create the roof support.
The German and Italian governments have also offered to help in the reconstruction, while Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to send “the best Russian specialists with rich experience in the restoration of national heritage monuments”.
Notre Dame fire revives old grievances for some Chinese web users
Berlin Mayor Michael Muller called on his fellow citizens to contribute, citing a partnership the two cities signed 32 years ago.
In total, nearly €700 million has been pledged for the painstaking renovation work that is likely to take years, if not decades, though experts breathed sighs of relief that the damage was not even worse.

The steeple of the Gothic edifice had been undergoing an €11 million (US$12.4 million) overhaul financed by the French state to repair damage inflicted by time, pollution and the weather.
The cathedral has long relied on individual donations for repairs, and a few years ago created a US-registered charity enabling American voters to deduct gifts from their taxes.
Notre Dame blaze fully extinguished, experts say landmark’s age and design fuelled fire
The New York-based French Heritage Society said it had also set up a fund for tax-deductible donations for Notre Dame in the wake of the fire.
Apple CEO Tim Cook added his company to the list of donors on Tuesday, saying on Twitter that the tech giant would contribute an unspecified amount to help restore a “precious heritage for future generations”.


Farewell to the ‘unipolar moment’: Europe scrambles for footing between US and China

Missing French tourist in Chad found dead ‘after a fall’

Mother in France charged after 2 babies found dead in freezer

How India’s US$40 billion order for French Rafales will help local fighter jet makers

France

Billionaire donors and businesses pledge nearly US$790 million to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral after devastating fire

Notre Dame cathedral engulfed in flames on Monday. Photo: AP Photo

Interior view of Notre-Dame de Paris in the aftermath of a fire that devastated the cathedral, during the visit of French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner (not pictured) in Paris, France, April 16, 2019. Christophe Petit Tesson/Pool via REUTERS

Notre Dame cathedral is pictured from the top of the Montparnasse tower, Tuesday April 16, 2019 in Paris. Firefighters declared success Tuesday morning in an over 12-hour battle to extinguish an inferno engulfing Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral that claimed its spire and roof, but spared its bell towers. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

French President Emmanuel Macron vows to rebuild fire-ravaged Notre Dame ‘even more beautifully’ within five years

Debris inside Notre Dame in Paris on Tuesday, the day after a devastating fire. Photo: AP

epa07510675 French President Emmanuel Macron sits at his desk after addressing the French nation following a massive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, at Elysee Palace in Paris, France, 16 April 2019. Macron canceled his announcement of a series of measures following the national Great Debate on 15 April because of the fire at Notre-Dame. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT / POOL

epa07510696 Tourists left flowers on a bridge near the damaged Notre-Dame Cathedral after a massive fire destroyed its roof in Paris, France, 16 April 2019. A fire started in the late afternoon 15 April in one of the most visited monuments of the French capital. EPA-EFE/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

Smoke rises around the altar in front of the cross inside the Notre Dame Cathedral as a fire continues to burn in Paris, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/Pool

epa07510767 People attend a walk as they pay tribute to the damaged Notre-Dame Cathedral after a massive fire destroyed its roof in Paris, France, 16 April 2019. A fire started in the late afternoon 15 April in one of the most visited monuments of the French capital. EPA-EFE/IAN LANGSDON

Flames and smoke billow from the roof at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on April 15, 2019. - Investigators were working on April 16 to identify the source of a massive blaze that devastated the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, as church officials inspected the damage from a disaster that has sent shockwaves through France and the world. (Photo by Stéphanie ROGER / AFP)

Notre Dame fire attracts wave of sympathy in China, but some web users revive old grievances over destruction of Old Summer Palace

Most Chinese web users were shocked by the destruction in Paris, but a minority said it served the French right for the actions of their forebears a century and a half ago. Photo: AFP

TO GO WITH AFP STORY"CHINA-NORWAY-CULTURE-HISTORY-POLITICS" FOCUS, BY FELICIA SONMEZ Visitors gather before the Great Fountain Ruins in the Old Summer Palace, known in Chinese as Yuan Ming Yuan, in Beijing on February 19, 2014. A Chinese tycoon's USD 1.6 million deal to return seven white marble columns from Norway has carved out debate in China over its quest to recover treasures it says were looted by foreigners -- with some questioning whether money should be offered at all. AFP PHOTO CHINA OUT / AFP PHOTO / STR [11JUNE2017 POST MAGAZINE]

Smoke billows as fire engulfs the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Notre Dame must rise from the ashes

The fire that engulfed and destroyed the roof and brought the landmark spire down was accompanied by a collective sadness that swept social media and prompted the world’s leaders to offer their condolences. Photo: AFP

Notre Dame blaze fully extinguished, experts say landmark’s age and design fuelled fire and narrow streets nearby foiled firefighters

This photo provided on Tuesday April 16, 2019 by the Paris Fire Brigade shows fire fighters working at the burning Notre Dame cathedral. Photo: BSPP via AP

Firefighters work at Notre-Dame Cathedral after a massive fire devastated large parts of the gothic gem in Paris, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

This aerial photo provided Tuesday April 16, 2019 by the Paris Fire Brigade shows Notre Dame cathedral burning, Monday April 15, 2019. Experts assessed the blackened shell of Paris' iconic Notre Dame Tuesday morning to establish next steps to save what remains after a devastating fire destroyed much of the cathedral that had survived almost 900 years of history. (Benoit Moser/BSPP via AP)

This photo provided on Tuesday April 16, 2019 by the Paris Fire Brigade shows fire fighters working at the burning Notre Dame cathedral, Monday April 15, 2019. Experts assessed the blackened shell of Paris' iconic Notre Dame Tuesday morning to establish next steps to save what remains after a devastating fire destroyed much of the cathedral that had survived almost 900 years of history. (Benoit Moser, BSPP via AP)

YouTube initially flags up Notre Dame fire as 9/11 conspiracy, later says system made ‘wrong call’

Silhouettes of mobile device users are seen next to a screen projection of Youtube logo. Photo: Reuters

A fire engulfed large parts of historic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on Monday. Photo: Alamy

Firefighters save Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral after massive blaze guts roof, burns down spire

The spire of Notre Dame Cathedral collapses as the cathedral is engulfed in flames on Monday, April 15, 2019. Photo: AFP

TOPSHOT - Smokes ascends as flames rise during a fire at the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on April 15, 2019 afternoon, potentially involving renovation works being carried out at the site, the fire service said. (Photo by FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP)

Smoke and flames rise during a fire at the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral in central Paris on April 15, 2019, potentially involving renovation works being carried out at the site, the fire service said. (Photo by FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP)

News

World

Europe

Blaze at Paris landmark inspires huge outpouring of financial support to help restore building


Blaze at Paris landmark inspires huge outpouring of financial support to help restore building.


European Union

Emmanuel Macron

Tourism

Billionaire donors and businesses pledge nearly US$790 million to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral after devastating fire

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Blaze at Paris landmark inspires huge outpouring of financial support to help restore building

Blaze at Paris landmark inspires huge outpouring of financial support to help restore building