The official reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is scheduled for December 8, 2024, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. On April 15, 2019, the cathedral, then undergoing restoration work, caught fire. The spire, the entire roof covering the nave, the choir, and the transept collapsed, arousing emotion and amazement throughout the world.
After two years devoted to securing the building, to project studies, then to the preparation and awarding of calls for proposals, cleaning and restoration work on the interior of the building are in progress. The work to restore the spire and the missing frameworks represents the most impressive stage.
By the end of 2023, the spire of the cathedral will gradually rise into the sky as it is built. Indeed, the installation of the base, its lower part, was completed on April 15, 2023, four years to the day after the fire. This base is a wooden construction by which the spire is anchored in the four large corner pillars of the transept crossing.
With a dimension of 15 meters long by 13 meters wide by 6 meters high, it determines the stability of the 66-meters-high-structure, which will culminate at 96 meters from the ground. The cathedral will then recover its spire, rebuilt identically to the previous one: in oak, stone, and lead, as designed by the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
With the cleaning of the walls, the painted decorations and the vaults, the restoration of the choir enclosure, a sculpted masterpiece of the 14th century, the stone has regained it lighter color and the paintings of the chapels their original brilliance.
“The two arms of the transept are in their final state. The first two bays of the nave too,” says General Jean-Louis Georgelin, president of the public establishment responsible for the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral. The first stained glass windows that had been removed, “not because they were broken, but because they had to be cleaned,” have been reinstalled, he explained. This had never been done since they were installed.
Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of historic monuments in charge of Notre-Dame de Paris, specifies that in 2024, “when we return to the cathedral, five years after the fire, we will not recognize Notre-Dame de Paris, totally dazzled by the luminosity of the stones, paintings, stained glass windows, chandeliers. Notre-Dame will be unrecognizable and it will be exactly as it might have been at the time when Viollet-le-Duc completed his work.”
“Regarding the liturgical furniture and the design of the chairs, the various artists were pre-selected at the beginning of the year,” indicates Msgr. Olivier Ribadeau-Dumas, rector of the cathedral. The artists in charge of the liturgical furniture must submit their project on May 23.
“Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris also received the artists to tell them what he expected, to remind them of the liturgical and functional dimensions of each object, which are also called to be part of a history that began more than 850 years ago. On July 13, the National Commission on Heritage and Architecture (CNPA) will meet regarding the project proposed by the diocese,” he continued.
In 2024, the third phase of work will begin: the exterior of the transepts, the apse, and the south tower, the reconstruction of the forecourt, and the development of the surroundings. Before the fire, the cathedral attracted 12 million worshipers and visitors each year. Notre-Dame is celebrating the 860th anniversary of its construction this year.
