Five years after the fire, the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris reopens
US President-elect Trump and Ukraine’s Zelenskyy are among guests at the cathedral’s opening ceremony.
France’s iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral is opening its doors to the public five years after a fire devastated the medieval landmark.
The April 2019 blaze tore through the church, destroying its iconic spire and most of the roof in a few hours. Yet, amid the destruction, images from inside Notre-Dame underscored the resilience of the medieval structure: towering walls stood firm, statues remained intact, and a golden cross gleaming above the altar, surrounded by the charred rubble of the collapsed roof.
Although restoration work is ongoing to ensure the 860-year-old building remains a centerpiece of the Paris skyline for generations to come, the cathedral formally opened on Dec. 7, for the first time since the disaster that shocked France and the world. The event has drawn immense public interest, with visitors flocking to Paris to witness the moment.
Laurent Ulrich, the Archbishop of Paris, marked the reopening ceremony by knocking on Notre-Dame’s heavy doors three times using a crozier crafted from salvaged wood from the burnt roof. A psalm was sung from within, as the cathedral’s famous 8,000-pipe organ responding with a performance by four organists.
The doors opened after the psalm was sung three times. The Archbishop entered Notre-Dame, followed by French President Emmanuel Macron, First Lady Brigitte Macron, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Macron delivered a speech following the symbolic door-reopening, expressing the “gratitude of the French nation” for those who helped rebuild its cultural treasure.
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“The bells of Notre-Dame, which have accompanied our history, are ringing again,” Macron said in front of the dignitaries. “We rediscovered what great nations could achieve: the impossible.”
In the wake of the 2019 fire, Macron launched a national fundraising campaign and set the ambitious goal of restoring the cathedral in five years. The campaign raised more than 846 million euro (approximately $894 million) in donations worldwide. American donors were the most generous, contributing $75 million from 45,000 supporters.
Ahead of the ceremony, Macron held meetings at his presidential palace with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Macron and Zelenskyy are two of the few European leaders who were in office during Trump’s first term and remain in power as Trump prepares to return to the White House.
On Dec. 8, Archbishop Ulrich will lead the first Mass in the newly restored cathedral, consecrating a contemporary altar that replaces the one crushed by the fallen spire during the 2019 fire.
The effort to restore Notre-Dame’s grandeur has been a monumental task. Around 250 companies, alongside hundreds of artisans, architects, workers, and other experts, were mobilized for the project. The restoration faced setbacks, however, including significant delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The titanic reconstruction and restoration project came at a cost of approximately 700 million euro ($737 million). The leftover funds are expected to be spent on the future preservation of the treasured Gothic cathedral.
One of France’s most beloved and visited monuments, Notre-Dame now expects to welcome some 15 million visitors annually.
