The nave of Notre Dame cathedral. Some 250 companies and hundreds of experts were mobilized for the five-year restoration costing hundreds of millions of euros.
The revival of Notre Dame, the cherished Gothic masterpiece in the heart of Paris ravaged by a catastrophic fire in 2019, has been shrouded in secrecy. Until now, only a select few had witnessed the painstaking efforts of architects, artisans, and master craftspeople who have meticulously restored the iconic cathedral.
On Friday, the public got its first look at the transformed UNESCO World Heritage Site as French President Emmanuel Macron conducted his final site visit ahead of its grand reopening on December 7 and 8.
The memory of the devastating blaze five years ago, which saw bright orange flames consume the 860-year-old cathedral and its famed spire collapse from the Paris skyline, remains vivid for many.
At the time, Macron pledged to restore the beloved landmark and set an ambitious five-year deadline. Now, 2,055 days later, the seemingly impossible has been accomplished, with the €700 million ($737 million) restoration project successfully completed.
A bronze tabernacle is seen on architect Viollet-le-Duc’s altar and the statues that make up the Vow of Louis XIII.
The Notre Dame cathedral is scheduled to reopen in early December 2024, with a weekend of ceremonies planned for December 7 and 8.
President Emmanuel Macron meets with Marie Parant, who restored the murals in Saint Marcel’s chapel within the cathedral. Surrounding the interior of the cathedral are twenty-nine chapels, which were not part of the original design but were added in the 13th century.
In July 2024, workers are seen working on scaffoldings around the wooden framework of the new spire at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. The spire has been rebuilt to exactly match the original one that was destroyed in the 2019 fire.
A technician works at the reconstruction site in July 2022
People watch as smoke and flames rise during the fire at the historic monument in central Paris in April 2019
