Montreal Blacksmith Finds Solace in Notre-Dame Reopening, Cherishes ‘Place in Paradise’
Five years ago, Notre-Dame Cathedral erupted in flames. A column of smoke rose above the Paris skyline as the historic cathedral, built between the 12th and 14th centuries, was reduced to a smoldering shell.
Yet against all odds, the Gothic masterpiece is reopening its doors on Saturday—and two Canadian blacksmiths played a role in its restoration.
Montreal blacksmith Mathieu Collette won’t be able to make it to Paris to see the resurrected church before the summer, but he said he is grateful for his small part in the cathedral’s history. “I believe I have a little place in paradise now,” he said in an interview Thursday.
After Notre-Dame fell into ruin, Collette got a call from a fellow blacksmith working in the Alsace region of France, asking if he wanted to fly to Europe to get involved in the Notre-Dame rebuild.
Over four months in the fall of 2022, Collette and a team of young blacksmiths under his direction forged three different types of axes—60 axes altogether. The axes were distributed to carpenters who needed the tools to carve the roof’s timber frame, mimicking the original construction.
Collette said experts are able to look at materials and determine the original tools used. For the frame Collette worked on, it was determined that three different kinds of axes had been used.
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“Every time an axe was finished, it was sent to the carpenter,” he said. “We never had a chance to look at more than two or three finished axes at a time because we were forging as many axes as possible every day.”
Collette, 49, has been working as a blacksmith for over 30 years. In 1994, he moved to southwest France to apprentice under master blacksmiths, returning to Quebec in 1998. He soon opened his own foundry with his father’s help. Over the years, he has visited Notre-Dame several times, pausing to marvel at its “incredible” door hinges.
“Every blacksmith in the world wonders, ‘How is it possible to do that?’” he said in an interview.
Another Canadian blacksmith, Nicholas Erb from Toronto, also contributed to the project, although Collette mentioned they never met.
The day after the cathedral burned in April 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that Notre-Dame would rise again within five years—a deadline that initially even daunted the chief architect behind the rebuild, Philippe Villeneuve.
Macron’s decree drove the most prominent restoration in modern French history. The announcement garnered unprecedented global support, with donations quickly nearing $1 billion.
“I will just tip my hat to them and say everything went well and on time,” Collette said. “This is incredible.”
A month after the fire, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Paris and offered Canadian steel and lumber to France to aid in the restoration.
“Canada will support France and offer all the help—whether it’s steel, wood, or any assistance we can provide,” Trudeau stated. “This is a piece of not just French history but world history that must be preserved, and we will be there to be part of it.”
On Thursday, federal government officials could not confirm whether Canada ultimately provided any materials to assist in the rebuild.
The reopening begins with invite-only ceremonies on Saturday and Sunday, with heads of state and government—like Quebec Premier François Legault—gathering in the French capital. Security measures will be strict, with the cathedral’s island location closed off to tourists.
