Cathedrals do burn. They are almost always rebuilt.

Chartres Cathedral. Source: Wikimedia

The Gothic cathedral has always been a delicate part of the architectural world. Much of its weight is held by flying buttresses that appear to float on the air. Many of the world’s most magnificent cathedrals have been standing more or less unchanged in their original sites for five centuries or more. But many others have been damaged by major fires, wars, or other calamities. The way that these cathedrals were repaired and rebuilt changed significantly over the centuries, but three examples stand out for what they represent about the power of cathedrals and how they shape the societies around them.

Chartres remains one of France’s most famous Gothic cathedrals. It was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries at the high point of the architectural style, coming after the cathedrals at Paris and Saint-Denis. The American writer Henry Adams believed that Chartres was the grandest of them all. In Mont-Sainte-Michel and Chartres (1904), he argued that Chartres represented the devotion of Christians to the Virgin Mary. It was “ a child’s fancy; a toy-house to please the Queen of Heaven, — to please her so much that she would be happy in it, — to charm her till she smiled.” This religious devotion to please Mary, according to Adams, was the reason that so many resources were spent building these cathedrals, especially Chartres, whose short building time (less than 40 years) required an exceptional effort.

For all its splendor, Chartres’ early history was defined by catastrophe. Several fires engulfed earlier churches at the Chartres site. The current Gothic church was begun after a fire in 1194 ruined much of an earlier Romanesque construction. In 1506, the cathedral’s north tower was destroyed by a lightning strike. It was rebuilt in only ten years but in the contemporary vogue, which was more ornate than the original design. This new tower did not perfectly match the original, but it speaks to the devotion of French authorities in the early 16th century and their commitment to rebuild after catastrophe. As a skeptical but admiring Adams wrote of the new tower, “It is self-conscious if not vain; its coiffure is elaborately arranged to cover the effects of age, and its neck and shoulders are covered with lace and jewels to hide a certain sharpness of skeleton. Yet it may be beautiful, still…”

St. Paul’s: The building known as Old St. Paul’s Cathedral was built in the 13th century after several earlier structures had burned since the 7th century. Old St. Paul’s burned along with much of London in the Great Fire of 1666. St. Paul’s became a symbol of the city rising from the ashes of its greatest conflagration. The architect of the new church, Sir Christopher Wren, made it the centerpiece of his greater plan to rebuild the rest of the city. Like Chartres, Wren rebuilt the church not in the original Gothic style but in the contemporary Baroque style, with a massive dome that towered over the rest of London’s churches and buildings. Indeed, St. Paul’s was the tallest structure in London for over 220 years.

Coventry Cathedral had a different story of destruction and redemption than Chartres and St. Paul’s. The 15th-century cathedral was targeted by a bombing raid from Germany during the Second World War. This raid tore off the roof and destroyed nearly everything but the tower and parts of the walls. After the war, the Church decided not to replace the cathedral exactly. It constructed a new cathedral that would both replace the original and serve as a symbol of what Britain lost during the war. Unlike St. Paul’s or Chartres, the repairs bore no resemblance to the original. Instead, the new cathedral reflected the break with the past that characterized modernist architecture, with its abstract stained glass and massive, stylized tapestry.

Cathedrals have a significance far beyond that of architecture alone. Their role as religious symbols means that they are often rebuilt after being severely damaged or burned down. The rebuilding process itself becomes almost as influential as the initial construction, with the new building reflecting both the original architectural style and the values of the rebuilders. Those who are distressed by the damage to Notre Dame can take solace in the fact that, if civil and religious authorities in the 16th, 17th, and 20th centuries could rebuild their cherished cathedrals, builders today will be able to do the same.