While fixated to the live feed of Notre Dame on fire, Family Editor Omeshnie Naidoo, says her little children were unmoved. Anxious to teach them about the world famous cathedral they may never see, she shared this kids encyclopedia explanation with them.
Notre Dame is a very old cathedral in Paris, France.
It is one of France's most famous landmarks and many people visit it each year.
The cathedral is on a small island on the River Seine. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris, one of 23 archdioceses in France. The cathedral was built during two centuries.
It is a very good example of Gothic Architecture in France.
Holes seen in the dome inside the damaged Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Picture: AP
At the time it was finished, the cathedral was the biggest such building in Western Europe. Between 1844 and 1864, the building was renovated under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who incorporated elements into the design that the medieval building had not possessed before. The two rose windows which ornate the transept are among the biggest in Europe: each has a diameter of 13m.
The bronze plate in the parvis before the cathedral is the origin of all road distances in France calculated from Paris. The national geographic institute in France uses the building as a benchmark. The coordinates and altitude for this point are known precisely.
Victor Hugo wrote a famous story. The story takes place around the cathedral. The English title is 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', but in French it is called 'Notre-Dame de Paris'.
