A look at the monumental restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral

27-12-23

• The spire of Notre Dame, crowned by a new golden rooster, regained its place in the Paris skyline last week.

While tourists and Parisians gathered in front of the cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to admire the return of one of its most emblematic elements - for now, still surrounded by scaffolding - work on Notre Dame continued in full swing. Nearly 500 craftsmen are working on the reconstruction of this Parisian monument so that it will be ready for its grand reopening to the public in less than a year's time.

On a recent visit to the construction site, President Emmanuel Macron promised that work was "on schedule" for Notre Dame to open to the public on Dec. 8, 2024, five years and seven months after the fire that destroyed large parts of the 860-year-old building in April 2019.

Those who admire the Gothic structure from the outside are already excited about the prospect of being able to re-enter the cathedral.

According to Rebuilding Notre Dame, there are about 250 companies and art workshops across France tasked with "working on the rebirth of the cathedral." This includes carpenters, stonemasons, scaffolders, sculptors, gilders, glaziers and even organ builders, who are restoring the 8,000 pipes and 115 stops of Notre Dame's great organ, the largest in France.

Following the 2019 fire, the first two years of work were spent securing the building, completing project studies and awarding tenders. The restoration phase officially began in September 2021.

In recent months, the most visible progress has been made on the restoration of the roof frame, the spire and the large upper galleries.

The cost of the reconstruction of Notre Dame will amount to some 700 million euros ($767 million). In total, €846 million ($928 million) was raised in donations from 340,000 donors from 150 countries, according to Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris.