Notre Dame's 800-Year Story

Notre Dame de Paris is perhaps France's most famous landmark: standing tall at the heart of the city for centuries, accepting the people's reverance one day, then facing their rejection on another. As of Monday evening local time in Paris, a massive fire has broken out in the cathedral, according to the Associated Press.
The cathedral, which houses the crown of thorns relic, sits on the Île de la Cité, an island in the center of the Seine. The town was well-placed to control the passage of goods along the waterway and grew wealthy. By the 10th century, Paris was the center of an emerging new European power.