Notre Dame Cathedral restored at a cost of more than 760 million USD

As tourists and Parisians gathered outside the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Notre Dame Cathedral to witness the return of one of the city's most iconic structures (which is still covered in scaffolding), the workers working to restore Notre Dame Cathedral were still busy.

Nearly 500 craftsmen are busy rebuilding the cathedral, ensuring the Paris landmark is ready to reopen to the public next year.

Notre Dame Cathedral is being restored

"It's exciting to see something of such historical value being restored in a five-year effort," Stephan Book, a Swedish tourist visiting Paris with his daughter and 80-year-old father, told CNN .

During a recent visit to the construction site, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the restoration would be "on schedule" so that Notre Dame Cathedral would open to the public on December 8, 2024, five years and seven months after a fire destroyed much of the 860-year-old building in April 2019.

Many details in the reconstruction of the church remain the same as the original.

"By the time of the Olympic Games (in July 2024), we expect to have dismantled the upper part of the spire and completed the roof so that Parisians and visitors from all over the world can admire the cathedral up close. The cathedral will be open again," Philippe Jost of Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris (the public agency responsible for preserving and restoring the cathedral), told the French National Assembly on December 13.

Now, those viewing the gothic structure from the outside are excited at the prospect of being able to re-enter the cathedral.

"The first time I came to Paris was 60 years ago, and I came back 20 years later," Stephan Book's father, Göran Book, recalled entering Notre Dame Cathedral on each of his previous visits to Paris. "I'm 80 years old now. If I'm alive next year, I'll come back here to see the reopening ceremony," he added.

An effort by France

According to Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris, there are nearly 250 companies and art workshops across France tasked with “working as if in the renaissance of the cathedral.” These include carpenters, stonemasons, scaffolders, sculptors, gilders, glassmakers and even organ builders who are restoring Notre Dame’s great organ, the largest in France.

About 500 workers and craftsmen are working to repair the church.

Following the 2019 fire, the first two years of work were devoted to securing the building, completing project studies and awarding contracts. The restoration phase then officially began in September 2021. In recent months, progress has accelerated on the restoration of the roof frame, spire and the large upper galleries.

Alban Dubois, who worked as a waiter at Cafe Panis, just across from Notre Dame, watched the progress every day from his window. He was there, waiting tables on the day of the fire, and recalls the horror of watching the flames grow so large that the windows of the restaurant where he worked became hotter. "People gathered in the restaurant and looked helplessly at the cathedral. Some people were crying… Everyone was very sad," Alban recalls.

Now, Alban Dubois is looking forward to the cathedral reopening and predicting that many people will come to visit. According to Philippe Jost, 14 million visitors are expected to "come to see the results of the restoration".

Marking the 21st Century

While Notre Dame's original appearance will be fully restored, President Macron also expressed his wish that the 21st century "takes its place among the many other centuries that marked the work of this cathedral".

In early December, Mr Macron announced a competition for contemporary artists to recreate six stained glass windows on the south side of Notre Dame, to “mark this 21st century”.

The new golden rooster atop the spire, designed by architect Philippe Villeneuve, contains relics saved from the fire that broke out on April 15, 2019, and a document with the names of those who worked on the reconstruction.

The name of French General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who oversaw the reconstruction of Notre Dame before dying in a mountain accident earlier this year, has been engraved on the wood of the spire. Jean-Louis Georgelin will "forever be a part" of Notre Dame. President Macron personally participated in the engraving on December 8.

The names of others who helped rebuild Notre Dame are also permanently attached to the new cathedral. A sealed tube placed inside the golden rooster atop the spire on December 16 contains a document listing the names of 2,000 people who worked on the project.

The cathedral's previous rostrum was found damaged amid the rubble a day after the fire. According to the Diocese of Paris, inside it were relics of St. Denis and St. Geneviève, as well as a fragment of Christ's crown of thorns, all intact and now housed inside the new rostrum.

The old rooster, along with the six stained glass windows that are to be replaced, will be housed in a new museum dedicated to Notre Dame. The opening of the museum was recently announced by Mr Macron: "It will be an art museum, a history museum, a museum to describe the construction site of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris".

The cost of rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral is expected to be around $767 million. In total, $928 million has been raised from 340,000 donors in 150 countries, according to Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris.

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