Our Town: Victor Hugo saved Notre-Dame in 1831

Dr Tom Ferraro
Victor Hugo gave Notre-Dame its imagination

The recent news that the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris nearly burnt to the ground must be written about. The loss of great and beautiful things is shocking for the world and requires a moment to work through.

Sadly, I have always found it difficult to appreciate iconic destinations that the world has to offer. I may have a weak imagination, but I have a feeling most of my friends feel the same way but are too proud to say so.

I recall when in graduate school one of my professors, Dr. Fred Levine, was explaining Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance by saying, “The amount of money one spends on a vacation means that when you return home, you must convince yourself and all others that the trip was just ‘wonderful, marvelous, stupendous.'”

Indeed, that is a highly cynical example, but there is an element of truth to it. As I age I have diligently established my bucket list of places to visit and have been checking off these trips one by one.

About five years ago, I came to the realization that there may be a way to learn to appreciate these destination spots so that I can get my money’s worth of transcendence. So that year, I think it was 2014, I decided to go to Paris and would read Victor Hugo’s Gothic novel, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

Hugo wrote the novel in 1831 during a period when Notre-Dame de Paris was falling into disrepair. Hugo hoped that by describing the cathedral in detail and by using it as the setting for his novel, he could inspire his countrymen to appreciate Notre-Dame and to restore it. To be sure, he was successful. His novel was a big hit and his nation embarked upon a 20-year restoration project.

We owe some thanks to Hugo for setting out on his journey to restore a structure that is so beautiful. If you have never actually seen the cathedral, I will describe to you what it’s like to experience. You begin to get a sense of its power long before you set eyes on it. To get to the cathedral, you must walk across the Pont Neuf and make your way through the tiny streets of the Ile de la Cite. You suddenly notice that everyone is heading in the same direction. They all seem to have an air of excitement and you hear bits of conversation in different languages.

The world comes to Paris to see this mysterious thing of beauty. It feels as if you are going to the center of the world and that representatives from every nation are right there with you. In fact, the plaza in front of Notre-Dame is referred to as Point Zero. When you finally make the last turn and gaze upon this medieval masterpiece, you understand why so many writers and artists move to Paris. This is the very epicenter of beauty and it is all yours to gaze upon.

Hugo’s story was about four men all falling in love with the rapturous, 16-year-old gypsy street dancer named Esmeralda. What he managed to do with his story was to inspire the world to come to Paris and to see ultimate beauty in the form of architecture. That is no small task, but he did it. And wasn’t it amazing to see this month that within three days over $900 million was donated by wealthy French citizens to restore it back to its glorious state.

Since my visit to Paris, I have traveled elsewhere and have used the writer’s imagination to prepare me to appreciate what I was about to behold.

Before going to Rome, I read Nathaniel Hawthorn’s “The Marble Fawn,” which was set in and around the Roman Forum. Before seeing the blue waters of Capri, I read W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Lotus Eater.” I prepped my trip to Lake George by reading “Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper, and before I flew to Hawaii, I was mesmerized by James Michener’s glorious novel of the same name.

Michener once remarked, “Sugar cane and pineapples provided Hawaii with its wealth, but it is only the writer who can give it an imagination.” This, I think, is true.

It is a common story attached to every truly beautiful city on earth. The story goes like this. First a writer, in this case with the name of Victor Hugo, falls deeply in love with a building and understands it to be a very precious thing. So he writes a wonderful story about this place that was eventually placed in nearly every library on earth. Then one day a man comes along who takes the book out of the library and reads the story about this place. He holds the story in his mind as he travels to this place and looks upon it himself. And what he sees is unforgettable and enriching.

This is a circular tale of buildings and writers and readers and travelers that spans many centuries. In the case of Notre-Dame, it spans exactly 856 years. This circular tale is like the circle described by those three giant rose stained-glass windows in the towers at Notre-Dame, which seem to spiral outward and upward as you look up at them. It is similar to the way Dante described his vision of heaven in his “Divine Comedy” with the circles going upward.

So many thanks to Maurice de Sully, Viollet-de-Duc, Victor Hugo and the many workers, glass makers, bell ringers, Parisian citizens, tourists, President Macron and all of the most recent supporters for holding fast to the idea that history and beauty and special cities count more than the world realizes.

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