France on Friday showed the world the gloriously restored interior of Notre Dame cathedral, more than a week before the 850-year-old building reopens following painstaking renovations after a devastating 2019 fire.
President Emmanuel Macron carried out an inspection of the restoration, which was broadcast live on television, saying that the workers had done the “impossible” by healing the “wound of the country” after the fire on April 19, 2019.
Although every effort has been made to remain faithful to the appearance of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects has created a bright space that has an immediate impact on the visitor.
The shine of freshly cleaned floors and walls shines, while the subtle combination of natural light and texture creates an intimate theatrical image.
“You have achieved what was thought impossible,” Macron told restoration workers and officials who packed Notre Dame, after visiting the church.
“The fire that broke out in Notre Dame was a national wound, and you have to be the solution to it with love, with work, with responsibility,” he said, adding that the reopening of the cathedral would be “a shock of hope”.
Notre Dame will welcome visitors and worshipers again on the weekend of December 7-8, after a sometimes challenging recovery.
World leaders are expected to attend but the guest list has not yet been revealed.
Macron visited key areas of the cathedral, including the nave, choir and chapel, and spoke to experts.
“Good,” said a visibly happy Macron, who was accompanied by the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, as well as France’s culture minister, the mayor of Paris and other officials.
“It’s very welcome,” he added, praising Notre Dame’s colorful stones and saying everyone involved in the reconstruction should be “proud”.
– ‘Insane Insane’ –
After the devastating fire, Macron set himself the goal of rebuilding Notre Dame within five years and making it “more beautiful” than before, a goal that French authorities say has been achieved.
The “building site of the century” was a challenge that many considered crazy, Macron said.
About 250 companies and hundreds of experts were brought in to carry out the restoration work worth hundreds of millions of euros.
All 2,000 people who participated in the campaign were invited to Friday’s event.
The restoration cost a total of nearly 700 million euros (more than $750 million in today’s terms).
It is funded with 846 million euros in contributions from 150 countries for the growth of solidarity.
The 19th century gothic spire, which was badly damaged in a fire, has been resurrected with an exact copy of the original.
Stained windows regain their color, walls shine after fire stains are cleaned and a restored organ is ready to roar again.
What is not visible to visitors is a new way to prevent future fires, a smart system of pipes ready to release water in the event of a new disaster.
Notre Dame, which welcomed 12 million visitors in 2017, expects to receive an even higher number of 14 to 15 million after reopening, according to church officials.
French ministers have also floated the idea of charging tourists to enter the site but the Paris diocese has said free entry is an important policy to maintain.
– Reopening ceremony –
Macron had hoped to speak inside Notre Dame to mark the reopening on December 7 but after talks with the diocese, he will now only speak in court.
France is constitutionally a secular country with a strict separation between church and state.
Sunday December 8 will see the first Mass and consecration of the new altar.
Macron said in December 2023 that he invited Pope Francis when the church reopened, but the head of the Catholic Church announced in September, which surprised some observers, that he would not be coming.
Instead, the pope made a historic trip the following weekend to the French island of Corsica.
The French Catholic Church in recent years has been rocked by a series of allegations of sexual abuse by priests, including most recently a monk known as Abbé Pierre who became famous for giving to the poor.
Five years on, the investigation into what caused the fire is still ongoing, with initial findings pointing to the cause of the accident as a short circuit, a welding torch or a cigarette.
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