Paris’ Notre-Dame is set to reopen more than five years after the devastating fire of 2019, and the world is getting a first look inside the cathedral.
Ahead of the public reopening on 8 December, France’s president Emmanuel Macron has taken a televised tour of the renovated and refurbished landmark, which can be seen below.
The president was accompanied by his wife Brigitte and the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich. On entering the cathedral, he said it was now “repaired, reinvented and rebuilt” (via the BBC). “It is sublime,” he said.
The fire broke out in the Notre-Dame’s roof on the evening of 15 April 2019, with people across the world watching as the wooden spire crashed to the ground. Around 600 firefighters battled the flames for 15 hours.
After the fire, Macron said the medieval Catholic cathedral would be rebuilt “even more beautifully” and reopened to visitors within five years.
The 850-year-old building’s €700m (£582m) renovation involved rebuilding the structure of the wooden roof, including the 19th-century spire.
Around 2,000 masons, carpenters, restorers, roofers, foundry-workers, art experts, engineers and sculptors worked on the project to rebuild the Notre-Dame.
Notre-Dame reopens on 8 December
Notre-Dame is due to reopen officially to visitors on 8 December. Access to the cathedral will remain free of charge, but long waits are expected in the first few months.
The building’s interior will be accessible, but exterior work will continue on the cathedral, with a redevelopment of its surroundings to begin next year.
Earlier this month, the cathedral’s ‘Virgin of Paris’ statue returned to its home after being safeguarded at the church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois. The statue survived the 2019 fire.
Images courtesy of the Notre-Dame de Paris
