French President Emmanuel Macron has promised that France will rebuild Notre Dame, whose roof caught fire on April 15, within five years. However, some experts say it could take longer, even decades. Either way, it’s a virtual certainty that the 850-year-old cathedral will be restored in time. The question is how, and with what materials?
Some argue the roof should be restored as closely as possible to its original state.
“We’ll use modern methods, but it should be done by the books,” Mechtild Rössler, the director of the Unesco World Heritage Center, told Business Insider.
However, one major problem is that France probably doesn’t have enough tall oak trees to restore the roof as it was. Even in the 13th century, it wasn’t exactly easy to find the 3,000 tall oak trees, some of which were up to 400 years old. French forests have only dwindled since then.
However, the insurance firm Groupama has pledged 1,300 oak trees, which are about 100 years old, from forests it owns in Normandy. No matter, though.
“The ability to find around 3,000 more big, strong trees in the next two decades is going to be tricky,” medieval historian Dr. Emily Guerry told CBS News, adding that the Baltic might have enough suitable oak trees.
