After meticulous restoration over five years, Notre-Dame set to reopen on Sunday

PARIS: The Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris is set to reopen on Sunday, following a meticulous restoration work carried out over the last five years after the Gothic masterpiece was engulfed in a catstrophic fire incident.

Just after the fire incident on April 15, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron had pledged to restore the cathedral — one of the most significant places in French history — within five years.

On November 29, a week ahead of the much-anticipated reopening, President Macron made a final visit to the site of Notre-Dame cathedral before the cathedral opened its doors to the world.

This project had three aims — to make Notre Dame and its surrounding area more beautiful, adapt the site and its neighbourhood to climate change, and enhance the reception and experience of visitors from around the world, according to an official press release. It intends to make Notre-Dame’s surrounding area a “large canopy”, an official press release said.

The splendor of Notre Dame after 5 years of renovations following the 2019 fire.

Set to reopen in a few days on December 8, 2024. pic.twitter.com/811VymjMtd

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) November 29, 2024

President Macron lauded the restoration of the cathedral and thanked those who worked for achieving this “collective feat”. “This once-in-a-century project has been conducted in extraordinary conditions. It required a collaboration of France’s best experts and specialists. It was a challenge many deemed impossible, yet one we will have met on December 7”, Macron said in a statement.

“For five years, behind the cathedral, in the silence of the ‘forest’, across France, men and women have been working, following in the footsteps of their ancestors. This final visit of the construction site is an opportunity to extend a special thanks to them whether they be artisans working with wood, metal and stone, scaffolding workers, roofers, bell artisans, art restorers, gold gilders, masons, sculptors, carpenters, organ builders, architects, archaeologists, engineers or logistical and administrative planners, as all specialists from so many fields have contributed to this collective feat”, he added.

Macron started his visit at the small forecourt outside the cathedral. After that, he visited the nave — the part of the cathedral where the congregation sits.

Tomorrow evening, on December 7, 2024 the long-awaited reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris pic.twitter.com/Z8jlBPt8g1

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Notably, while the cathedral was being secured, in preparation for the rebirth of NotreDame, it was decided that the cathedral would be rebuilt exactly as it was before, the statement read. The vaulted ceilings, some of which had collapsed, were a priority of the project.

Macron, and the group of officials then visited the transept crossing, climbed to the roof for a tour of the new vault structures and saw how they were built. The French president then visited the chancel screen and Saint Marcel’s chapel, two magnificent artistic elements restored by two separate artists with bright colors.

The French President was then shown the southern ambulatory and the restoration of the Vow of Louis XIII. The tour ended with Macron seeing the Grand Organ, before dozens of people involved in the restoration work got their first look inside the cathedral.

The Roof Structure above the Choir, was one of the most symbolic moments of the visit and of Notre-Dame’s rebirth. An architectural gem, the impressive medieval roof structure — nicknamed “the forest” because of its density and the quality of its wood — was the epicentre of the fire before it collapsed, the statement read.

After crossing the loft space above the Choir, Emmanuel Macron and Philippe Jost stopped at a crucial point in Notre-Dame’s roof structure: the base of the spire, and more specifically the kingpost of the spire, its backbone, located precisely above the Transept Crossing.

According to the statement, Philippe Jost recalls that the collapse of the spire served as an unspeakably intense embodiment of the tragedy; its reconstruction and return to the Paris skyline is a resounding proclamation of Notre-Dame’s resurrection.

According to estimates, the restoration costed a whopping 700 million euros ($737 million), CNN reported citing Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris, the public body headed by Philippe Jost, which was tasked with the restorations. A staggering 846 million euros ($891 million) was raised through donations from 3,40,000 donors in 150 countries. (ANI)