The full extent of the destruction to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was laid bare on Wednesday as French culture minister Franck Riester visited to look at renovation efforts.
Walking beneath the melted and burned scaffolding from the cathedral's original renovation before the fire, Riester inspected the damage with Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of historic buildings and current head of the Notre-Dame renovation efforts.
Walking only in the areas that were safe — the sides of the cathedral's interior and parts of the roof — the devastating effect of the fire was clear. The ceiling of the cathedral was torn apart and the site was still covered in burnt debris, three months after the disaster.
Construction workers are still securing the cathedral's structure before any reconstruction can begin. Large wooden structures have been built to support the flying buttresses, while new scaffolding has been erected on the roof and heavy-duty nets suspended to catch falling debris in the cathedral's interior.
