Just over five years after the fire that devastated it, in April 2019, the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris will reveal its ” glow found », Friday, November 29, thanks to a last visit to the place by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, starting at 10:15 a.m. This, eight days before its reopening with great fanfare, on Saturday, December 7.
Pending the imminent return of the public, it will be thanks to a walk by the Head of State, broadcast live in the morning on several French and international channels, that the restored, or even partially rebuilt, cathedral will be visible to the public. first time on Friday. “Even more beautiful than before, in the rediscovered radiance of the blonde of the stones and the color of the chapels”as reported by the President of the Republic in a document to the press.
In a tour of a dozen stages, from the square to the frame, passing through the nave, the transept transept or even the Saint-Marcel chapel, the visit has been designed to show the main achievements of this titanic place. At each stop, Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by his wife, Brigitte Macron, and the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, will speak with some of the people who worked on the reconstruction of Notre-Dame.
The president will then deliver a brief speech of thanks at the cathedral, during which he is expected to praise the “Know how to do French”to “collective success”TO “chapter we can be proud of”around 12:20 p.m.
Tribute to the 2,000 contributors to the work
The 2,000 people who contributed to the work have been invited, of whom at least 1,300 are expected to attend. Among them, the Belgian architect and landscape designer Bas Smets, who designed the new square, Guillaume Bardet, the designer who created the new liturgical furniture, Jean-Louis Bidet, one of the carpenters, Marie Pouliot and Marie Parant, restorers of the mural painting . , or Pascal Prunet, chief architect of historical monuments.
Patrons will also be in the spotlight, while the construction project of the century, which cost around 700 million euros, was financed exclusively by donations.
“This latest visit to the site is an opportunity to thank them in particular, from the wood craftsmen to the metal and stone craftsmen, from the scaffolders to the roofers, from the campers to the art restorers, from the gilders to the bricklayers and sculptors, from carpenters to organ builders, from architects to archaeologists. , engineers and planners to logistical or administrative functions”said Emanuel Macron.
When presenting this visit to the press, the Elysée did not skimp on superlatives and used the word no less than twenty times. ” glow “. “Wonder”view “striking”, “colorful fireworks” : Presidential advisors have promised an impressive spectacle and a striking contrast to the “yawning vault”HE “burned waste” and the smell “intolerable” which Emmanuel Macron discovered on the night of the fire, April 15, 2019.
Reopening with great fanfare on December 7
Broadcast around the world, the fire, the causes of which have not yet been determined, sparked a wave of global emotion. The President of the Republic then promised to reopen within five years, which then aroused some skepticism. Those around him are happy today that “the impossible has[it] it was possible ».
The flames had especially devastated the roof and structure of this masterpiece of Gothic art from the 12th century.my century, which is among the most visited monuments in Europe. The Viollet-le-Duc tower, which collapsed from a height of 93 meters, was rebuilt identically.
The work made it possible to clean the dirt accumulated over decades, and the “immaculate whiteness” of the Catholic building looks dazzling “as never before”according to the Elysée. So far, only unauthenticated images have circulated on the social network X, republished by billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the social network and close to the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.
The public will still have to wait a good week to access the cathedral: on December 7, the Head of State will speak again, this time in the square, before a liturgical ceremony inside for the official reopening, a prelude to the inaugural mass celebrated. on December 8th. Many foreign leaders have been invited to the reopening, but the list of those who will attend has not yet been announced.
