PARIS.- Five years after fire that devastated Our Lady On April 15, 2019, the reopening of the Cathedral Parisian is still scheduled for 8 December, according to Philippe Jost, president of the public body in charge of overseeing its reconstruction.
Around 250 companies and hundreds of craftsmen, architects and other professionals have worked on the reconstruction of the cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece registered as a UNESCO world heritage site.
The first stage included the removal of tons of debris, and was prolonged due to disruptions caused by Covid, the need to ensure safety measures at the site and the decontamination of the building, particularly the lead on the roof, melted during the fire.
That stage was completed in mid-2021, at a cost of 150 million euros (about $155 million).
Restoration work began shortly afterwards, both in the cathedral and in the numerous workshops of artisans who participated remotely in the repair or recreation of stained glass, stones or in the identical reconstruction of the wooden structure of the nave and choir.
More than a thousand trees felled
That complex operation, which ended in March, required the felling of more than a thousand bicentennial trees selected in French forests. The spire designed by 19th-century architect Viollet-le-Duc, which collapsed along with part of the roof, was visible again in February.
Inside the temple, the experts took the opportunity to clean the walls, stained glass windows, vaults and decorations. This stage is almost completed and has allowed the cathedral to return to a luminosity unknown in recent memory.
“It’s truly wonderful, all these colors had completely disappeared. I’m discovering them now,” Notre Dame vice-rector Guillaume Normand told AFP.
The great organ, covered in lead dust, was cleaned and its 8,000 pipes were reassembled, one by one. Its tune-up is expected to last six months.
By summer, work on the nave, choir and spire ceilings should be complete, as well as restoration of the black and white checkered floors and some work on the interior art furniture.
An important fire prevention system is also being installed.
The period stained glass windows, among which the three enormous medieval rose windows stand out, now show a filtered light. A competition has been launched to create contemporary stained glass windows, which will not be installed before 2026.
Budget
The total budget for this reconstruction phase is anticipated to remain below the estimated 550 million euros (about $585 million), according to Jost.
The cathedral fire sparked a solidarity movement around the world, resulting in 846 million euros of donations ($901 million), of which approximately 150 million will go toward restoring exterior parts eroded before the fire. .
Starting in the autumn, the esplanade and entrances to the cathedral will be cleared and remodeled, in collaboration with the Paris City Council, in charge of restructuring the surroundings of Notre Dame by 2028.
Notre Dame Rector Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau-Dumas estimates there will be 13 to 14 million annual visitors in the future, compared to 12 million before the fire.
Source: AFP
