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Notre-Dame Rises Again ... in Lego

Arnaud Gaudillat, a history teacher in France, recalled bursting into tears as he watched television coverage of flames tearing through the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in 2019. “We couldn’t do anything but just watch it burn,” he said.

Now, five years later, as hundreds of architects, engineers and metalworkers race to finish rebuilding the cathedral’s roof coverings and electrical cabling by the end of the year, Mr. Gaudillat will not be sitting on the sidelines. He will be constructing his own Notre-Dame. One made out of 4,383 Lego pieces.

Lego, the biggest toy company in the world, on Saturday released a model of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, complete with rose windows, bell towers and a central spire surrounded by statues.