Towering majestically over the Paris city skyline, Notre Dame has been one of the world’s most visited monuments for more than 800 years.
But on 15 April 2019, a fire engulfed the cathedral’s wooden spire and roof, ravaging the Gothic masterpiece that has stood on the banks of the River Seine since the 1,345 while worshippers prayed inside.
Investigations later found that the blaze was likely started either by a cigarette or a short circuit in the electrical system.
Now, five years after French president Emmanuel Macron committed to restore the structure, the building is set to reopen – and Philippe Jost, president of the public authority overseeing the restoration of the Catholic cathedral, says visitors will be ‘stupefied and awestruck’ by the interior.
So, what changes has the restoration made, if any? The cathedral is owned by the French state, which has directed the €700,000 (£582,000,000) donated towards the project.
However, the interiors are the property of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paris – and for the most part, the objects destroyed in the fire were not historic, so the costs in this area were minimal.
Sculptor and designer Guillaume Bardet was commissioned by the diocese itself to fashion a new altar – and he hopes that the result will speak ‘not only to the faithful but also to the larger number of tourists who are unfamiliar with Catholicism or even Christianity.
‘They too have to understand,’ Guillaume toldNational Geographic. ‘They have to understand that we’re talking about the sacred.’
There’s also been an effort to protect the refurbished structure from fire, ensuring that the events of 2019 never repeat themselves.
Inside, fire-resistant trusses (an assembly of structures such as beams that create a rigid shape) aim to separate the spire and its two arms from the nave and the choir, so that should another fire alight, it can’t spread across the entire attic.
As for the new spire, the replacement was installed almost a year ago in December 2023, featuring the relics of two Parisian saints and a scroll penning the names of all 2,000 workers who contributed to the historic restoration.
And on the top is the symbol of a rooster, which remains a marker of both French identity and of ‘hope and resurrection.’
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The designer behind it, Philippe Villeneuve, deliberately gave it a flame shape as a reminder of the events that took place on April 15, 2019. And though the original was saved from the wreckage, it needed extensive work.
The inauguration of the Notre Dame is set to take place on December 7 with the re-awakening of the organ, which was left unscathed by the fire itself by needed to be completely dismantled and cleaned out to such an extent that the 8,000 pipes were individually hand-cleaned by specialist tuners.
Then, on December 8, the first public mass since it forcibly closed its doors will take place with the consecration of the altar. This event will be entirely open to the public but will also be broadcast on national television.
Finally, the crown of thorns, which represents Jesus’ suffering on the cross as told in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John, will return to the cathedral on December 13.
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