the Gothic jewel of the French capital, is ready to welcome visitors again, 5.5 years after the devastating fire.
President Emmanuel Macron will today (29/11) take a tour of the renovated interior of the cathedral, where the first service will be held on December 8. In 2019 he made a bold promise: And he succeeded.
Macron, after seeing highlights of the €700m (£582m) renovation, including huge wooden ceiling beams replacing the medieval framework destroyed by fire, will deliver a speech of thanks to some 1,300 craftsmen and women who will gather in the main temple, reports the BBC report.
Jean-Louis Zorzelin, who was praised for his work, was in charge of the restoration project, but died in an accident in the Pyrenees in August 2023 and was replaced by Philippe Jost. About 2,000 craftsmen, carpenters, conservators, metal workers, sculptors and engineers worked on the project.
The fire that destroyed everything
On the evening of April 15, 2019, viewers from around the world and, in the dramatic climax of the fire, the 19th century spire to collapse.
The cathedral, whose structure was already a cause for concern before the fire, was undergoing exterior renovations at the time. or an electrical problem.
About 600 firefighters battled the flames for 15 hours. and probably of much of the walls of the cathedral. Eventually, the structure was saved.
What was destroyed were the spire, the wooden roof beams (known as the “forest”) and the stone dome over the center of the cruciform and part of the nave.
There was also significant damage from falling rocks and wood, as well as water from fire hoses.
Fortunately, the list of what was saved was much longer – including all the stained glass windows, most of the statues and works of art, and the sacred relic known as the Crown of Thorns. The church organ – the second largest in France – was badly affected by dust and smoke, but is repairable.
