PARIS (AP) — After more than five years of frenetic reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed its new self to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019.
Images broadcast live of a site visit by French President Emmanuel Macron showed the inside of the iconic cathedral as worshippers might have experienced it back in medieval times, its wide, open spaces filled with bright light on a crisp and sunny winter’s day.
Gaping holes that the blaze tore into the vaulted ceilings, leaving charred piles of debris, are gone, now filled in with new stonework. Macron entered via the cathedral’s giant and intricately carved front doors and stared up at the ceilings in wonder.
His two-hour tour is being televised live. The images are expected to be breathtaking, showing creamy renovated stonework, vibrant colors, and other fruits of the mammoth reconstruction.
Joined by artisans, architects, business leaders, and donors, Macron is expected to pay tribute to the craftsmanship and dedication of all those who worked to bring Notre Dame back to life.
Macron is scheduled to inspect the restored nave, no longer ripped open by giant holes that the fire tore out of its vaults. He is also to see the rebuilt timber-framed roof, rebuilt with wood from hundreds of oak trees, and other highlights of the reconstruction.
Joined by a group of 700 artisans, architects, business leaders, and donors, Macron is paying tribute to the craftsmanship and dedication behind the restoration effort.
The visit kicks off a series of events ushering in the reopening of the 12th-century Gothic masterpiece.
Macron will return on Dec. 7 to deliver an address and attend the consecration of the new altar during a solemn Mass the following day.
Macron’s administration is hailing the reconstruction as a symbol of national unity and French can-do.
