April 15, 2019 | 11:34pm
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A still from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) Courtesy Everett Collection
This should ring a bell.
The Notre Dame cathedral in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)Courtesy Everett Collection
Notre Dame is well known around the world as the setting for the 1831 novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
The heartbreaking Victor Hugo tome has been adapted into numerous movies and TV shows, most notably the 1936 film version starring Maureen O’Hara and Charles Laughton.
It follows Esmeralda, an enchanting gypsy known as “our lady of Paris,” and Quasimodo, the cathedral’s hunchbacked bell-ringer, desperately in love with her.
It was also made into a French-Italian film starring Anthony Quinn and Gina Lollobrigida in 1956 and a Disney animated flick in 1996.
One of the story’s primary aspects is the building itself. Hugo describes it as a great work of art — albeit one that is crumbling due to neglect and vandalism.
The novel’s popularity turned public attention back to the house of worship and by 1844, a restoration was underway.
The project included the addition of elements including the 750-ton spire — now destroyed.
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