“I want to visit the cathedral, I want to see how they spent this money to restore it, so it’s convenient not to be too far away,” he said.ĭenis Rapinel, the mayor of Dol-de-Bretagne, said he was delighted with the donation. It is undergoing a major renovation expected to be completed in 2024.įollett said he had chosen the Dol cathedral because “It’s not very far from me in England”. After the revolution, it became a “Temple of Reason” then stables and a warehouse. In 1203, the English King John, known in France as Jean sans Terre (John with no land) set fire to the Dol cathedral but, fearing for his soul, then agreed to finance its reconstruction. Dol became the religious capital of Brittany and a cathedral was built, only to be destroyed in 1014 by Vikings, after which another cathedral was built on the site. Saint-Samson de Dol-de-Bretagne, in the Ille-et-Vilaine department east of Saint-Malo, was constructed in honour of Saint Samson, a bishop monk from Cardiff in Wales who arrived in the area in 548 and built a monastery. They inspired me to write Pillars of the Earth, my most-read book.”

“Also, these ancient buildings have given me enormous pleasure over the years. “I didn’t want to profit from the fire,” French media quoted Follett saying after the donation was revealed. Ken Follett will donate his proceeds from this book to the charity La Fondation du Patrimoine.Ken Follett. Follett then tells the story of the cathedral, from its construction to the role it has played across time and history, and he reveals the influence that the Notre-Dame had upon cathedrals around the world and on the writing of one of Follett's most famous and beloved novels, The Pillars of the Earth. In this short, spellbinding book, international bestselling author Ken Follett describes the emotions that gripped him when he learned about the fire that threatened to destroy one of the greatest cathedrals in the world-the Notre-Dame de Paris. The feeling was bewildering, as if the earth was shaking.” -Ken Follett Something priceless was dying in front of our eyes. The sight dazed and disturbed us profoundly.

“The wonderful cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the greatest achievements of European civilization, was on fire.

Ken follett notre dame