Paris' Notre Dame will rise again: Ten other iconic buildings that have been rebuilt following disaster

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Paris' Notre Dame will rise again: Ten other iconic buildings that have been rebuilt following disaster

By David Whitley
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The full extent of this week's tragic fire at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral is yet to be established, although it seems that key structural elements have survived. But it is not the only great building to have succumbed to a disaster – and experience elsewhere shows that what has been lost can be rebuilt. Here are ten great icons that have come back from the rubble…

The Frauenkirche, Dresden

This 18th century baroque masterpiece, with an audacious 96 metre high dome, was left in ruins after Allied bombing in World War II. The East German authorities decided to keep it that way as a war memorial, but after German reunification, the decision was taken to remake the Frauenkirche as faithfully as possible. The exterior was finished in 2004, and the interior in 2005. It's now, once again, Dresden's focal point. See frauenkirche-dresden.de

The Royal Castle, Warsaw

After the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, the bulk of the Polish capital's Old Town was razed to the ground in retaliation by the occupying Nazi troops. This included the Royal Castle, the traditional home of Polish monarchs. Reconstruction took place between 1971 and 1984, funded largely by donations from the United States. The red brick façade is now back in place on Castle Square, with many of the artworks and treasures bravely removed for safekeeping during in the war returned to their rightful place. See zamek-krolewski.pl

The Cloth Hall, Belgium

It was the First World War, rather than the Second, that did for the magnificent Cloth Hall in Ypres. Wrecked by artillery fire, the humungous 13th century Gothic masterpiece lay in ruins, a smouldering eyesore dominating the Grote Markt square. The restoration took place between 1933 and 1967, keeping the look as it was before the war. It's now home to the In Flanders Fields Museum. See inflandersfields.be

Shakespeare's Globe, London

The famous theatre in which Shakespeare performed was burned down, rebuilt, and then demolished within a 31 year period at the start of the 17th century. The current approximation of it, about 250 metres away from the site of the original, was funded by theatre lovers and opened in 1997. It is thought to be a reasonably faithful resurrection, but with only half the capacity due to fire regulations. See shakespearesglobe.com

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Yongdinmen, Beijing

The former Beijing city gate didn't succumb to natural disaster – it was torn down in an unforgivable 1950s city planning decision to make way for a new road system. Later on, the Chinese authorities thought better of destroying the 1553 Ming Dynasty landmark, so remade it on the same spot. That work finished in 2005, although it is now disconnected from the road leading out of the city.

The Stoa of Attalos, Athens

Sitting rather incongruously amongst the ruin of the Ancient Agora, the Stoa of Attalos is a fully formed classical building. Inside it, the Museum of the Ancient Agora can be found, but the original Stoa, with its trademark long flank of columns, was destroyed in 267 AD. The rebuilding, conducted during the 1950s, was seen as a textbook example of faithful recreation.

St Mark's Campanile, Venice

Soaring just under 100 metres high, and standing alone in a corner of St Mark's Square, the elegant red brick belltower of St Mark's Basilica is just as big an emblem of Venice as the gondolas. But despite dating back to the 9th century, it has taken many forms and suffered repeated damage from lightning strikes. Then, in 1902, it cracked and collapsed. The rebuild, designed to look exactly as it did before, was finished a decade later.

Stari Most, Mostar

Destroyed in the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, the original Stari Most was one of the world's most beautiful bridges. The 16th century, gracefully arched Ottoman icon spread high over the green-tinged waters of the Neretva River. Reconstructing it, using the original materials and techniques – and some of the original stone salvaged from the river – was a matter of pride. The new bridge opened in 2004.

Tabo Monastery, India

Founded in the 10th century, and believed to be the oldest continually operating Buddhist site in India, this Himalayan monastery fell victim to an earthquake in 1975. But the reconstruction saw new structures added. It's now a nine temple complex, with new additions being tacked on down the centuries, although the paintings from the very early years were rescued and are still on display in the main temple. See tabomonastery.com

The Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

Originally designed as temporary building for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, campaigns to save this classical-inspired flight of fancy were only briefly successful. It was used for storing vehicles during World War II, but completely unstable by the 1950s and pulled down in 1964. The next year it was rebuilt in concrete and steel, with all the original decorations and sculptures replaced. See palaceoffinearts.com

See also: Ten of the world's greatest abandoned, unfinished and unused behemoths

See also: Ten tourist attractions in Europe that aren't worth the hype

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