The fire in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which is one of the recognizable symbols not only of Paris, but of the whole of Christian Europe, as well as the subsequent start of work on its restoration, forced the French society to look at the problem of preserving the national spiritual and cultural heritage on a larger scale. “Notre Dame is a tree with no forest visible behind it. There are forty two thousand churches and chapels in France, of which more than half are in need of repair. In the absence of funds, some of them go under the hammer, turning into supermarkets, clubs, hotels, '- these words of the President of the Observatory of Cultural Heritage Edouard de Lamaze are quoted by Interfax with reference to the newspaper' Culture '. It seems that now is the time to raise this issue - after all, more funds have been collected for the restoration of Notre Dame than required. In this regard, the administrations of some of the cities of the country, for example, Lyon and Bordeaux, are ready to withdraw their earmarked contributions (250,000 euros) and dispose of them at their own discretion. The voices of famous people in France who are calling for the use of the surplus funds raised for the restoration of the cathedral in the capital to repair other churches throughout the country are growing louder. As for Notre Dame, the debate about what the cathedral should look like after restoration continues. Jean-Michel Vilmont, an eminent architect known, in particular, for the construction of the Russian Holy Trinity Cathedral in Paris, believes that the new spire of Notre Dame should be completely glass - as if echoing in this way with the famous Louvre pyramid, made of the same material. Another project involves the installation of a searchlight at the end of the spire, sending a beam of light vertically up at night. There is also a solution that provides for a completely stained glass roof in the cathedral. Non-standard ideas were also voiced. According to one of them, a swimming pool should be arranged on the roof of the cathedral; according to another - to place greenhouses there, fruits and vegetables from which could be distributed to the poor.
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