Notre Dame Tragedy Should Raise Awareness About Heritage Sites' Protection - Europa Nostra

Europa Nostra, a leading pan-European federation for cultural heritage, hopes that the tragedy around the devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will raise awareness about the need of investing in historical sites' protection and maintenance, the organization's secretary general told Sputnik

GENOA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2019) Europa Nostra, a leading pan-European federation for cultural heritage, hopes that the tragedy around the devastating fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will raise awareness about the need of investing in historical sites' protection and maintenance, the organization's secretary general told Sputnik.

"I hope that this will raise the consciousness ensuring the security of heritage sites. It's something that requires more resources. Once the tragedy comes, suddenly all the money is arriving," Sneska Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic said.

She noted that the maintenance of heritage sites did require a plenty of resources but warned that "once it is lost, the loss is priceless."

"We, Europa Nostra, will raise our voice, and we have to use this tragedy also for the positive mobilization, not just for Notre Dame, but for the cultural heritage in general," she added.

A massive fire broke out at the iconic cathedral on Monday evening, causing the collapse of the Notre Dame spire and the two-thirds of the roof. The blaze was fully extinguished only on Tuesday morning.

French President Emmanuel Macron has described the inferno as a "terrible tragedy" and promised to rebuild the 850-year-old cathedral. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), several European nations and companies across the world have already expressed readiness to contribute to rebuilding Notre-Dame de Paris.