Hundreds of Parisians gathered together and sang as they watched the Notre Dame Cathedral being engulfed by flames on Monday in Paris. Beloved cathedral known to many from Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel, “Notre-Dame de Paris,” published in English as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Notre Dame Cathedral survived 1790’s French Revolution.

The cathedral name means Our Lady and is the seat of the archbishop of Paris. It was built on a small island called the Île de la Cité, in the middle of the Seine. Construction began in 1163, during the reign of King Louis VII, and was completed in 1345. It is considered a jewel of medieval Gothic architecture.

Here are the historical events that took place at the Cathedral

Henry VI of England was crowned king of France inside Notre-Dame in 1431.

Napoleon Bonaparte, was crowned emperor there in 1804.

In 1909, Joan of Arc, who had helped France battle the English and was burned at the stake centuries earlier, was beatified in the cathedral by Pope Pius X.

It’s hard to believe that today marks the day we lose the landmark admired by people from all over the world.