Work has begun to turn the 674-year old Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris into Europe’s wackiest water park.

Thanks to astronomical funds donated by wealthy individuals in the wake of April’s large fire, the Catholic Church has been able to set into motion their plans to diversify the popular site.

A spokesman told us, ‘people keep throwing money at us, it’s mental! We’re one of the richest organisations in the world but I’ll be fucked if we’re going to put a penny towards repair work. Donations are great. We’re making money hand over bastard fist!’

‘Finally we can get our plans for Holy Water World off the ground. It’s going to be part of the diversification of our tourist hotspots. I mean, we’ve got literally hundreds of old cathedrals that all look the same. We need to attract a younger crowd.’

Critics have hit out at the plans to spend the cash, calling for the money to be spent on global disaster relief or environmental protection instead.

‘There’s loads of trees,’ the spokesman retorted. ‘What we really need are more theology-based mass entertainment parks. For example, we’re going to be building a wave-pool called “The Baptism” where people can literally get smashed in the face by gallons of font water.’

‘I’ve really got my eye on a waterslide design that drops blindfolded people vertically down into a pool of freezing cold water, with no ladder to get out at the bottom. It’s called “Allegory”.’