One week before the official reopening, French President Emmanuel Macron visited the construction site at the Notre-Dame Cathedral for a final time.
The shock of the reopening will be as great as that of the fire which destroyed the world-famous church, but this time it will be a shock of hope, Macron said.
The French president’s visit officially marks the end of the construction work.
Five years after the fire, Macron’s visit provided the first glimpse of the restored and reconstructed cathedral before its reopening on December 7: radiant, colourful, flooded with light and modern.
After the devastating fire in April 2019, Macron called on the country to rebuild the landmark.
In a televised speech, he promised: “We will rebuild Notre-Dame even more beautifully. And I want it to be completed in five years. We can do it.”
Many were sceptical at the time that restoration work at the medieval cathedral could be completed in such a short time period.
After five years of restoration, however, the Parisian landmark is now almost unrecognizable. Natural stone surfaces covering about 42,000 square metres now shine brightly after having been cleaned of centuries of accumulated dirt and soot.
The cathedral was reconstructed identically, but the furnishings inside are now contemporary.
The altar and the tabernacle, where the consecrated hosts are kept, have a minimalist design and are made of bronze, as is the baptismal font right at the entrance to the cathedral.
The old baptismal font used to be located in a chapel on the north side.
Macron visited on Friday accompanied by his wife, Brigitte, and the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.
The French president stopped in front of the new reliquary to hold the crown of thorns, a monumental container made of yellow glass stones, which will not be placed at its new location until December 13.
During the fire in 2019, the precious crown of thorns, which arrived in Paris in 1239 and is said to have been placed on Jesus on the day of his crucifixion, was heroically saved from the flames by the Paris fire brigade.
The construction site was organized under extraordinary conditions, Macron said in his speech to around 1,200 craftsmen, journeymen and architects at the site.
The aim was to bring together the best of French know-how, and more than 2,000 men and women were involved in the restoration.
“You have made the impossible possible,” said Macron.
