30. Notre-Dame de Paris Fire, France
Built: 1100s
Collapsed: 2019
Est. Damages: $197 million repair cost*
The Notre Dame de Paris, a Catholic cathedral in France, was constructed in the twelfth century. The building was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it drew in millions of tourists a year. The beauty of the cathedral was, sadly, marred when a fire broke out in 2019.
Notre-Dame de Paris Fire, France @mchaneylacharen / Pinterest.com
The fire caused the building’s spire to collapse and the roof to be mostly destroyed. Notre Dame de Paris’ upper walls were burned, and many of the relics and artifacts within the cathedral suffered smoke damage. The cause of the fire was an electrical fault, though investigators haven’t ruled out the “dropped cigarette” theory. Fundraising efforts to repair the cathedral have raised more than $1 billion, and repairs are likely to take twenty years to be fully completed.