The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris reopened on Saturday, December 7, for the first time since flames consumed part of the structure’s roof and its spire in April 2019.
World leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron, Catholic clergymen, and donors to the €700 million (~$739.2 million) restoration project attended a 2,000-guest reopening ceremony inside the cathedral led by Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich. During the Saturday evening service, clergymen ceremoniously banged on the doors of the cathedral and attendees responded with a psalm recitation before an awakening of the 8,000-pipe organ that was removed and restored following the fire.
Conservators and other workers restored Notre Dame’s hallmark Gothic stained-glass windows and largely focused on repairing the damaged roof, where the fire broke out. Reports about the restored cathedral characterized it as appearing “lighter” and more colorful due to the removal of smoke damage and dust, which also cleared build-up from centuries of use.
For the opening weekend, celebrity fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac — the designer behind Lady Gaga’s iconic 2009 outfit made entirely out of Kermit the Frog stuffed animals — was tasked with outfitting 700 clergymen, deciding upon a white robe featuring a shiny gold cross with pops of green, yellow, blue, and red.
In 1991, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the Notre Dame Cathedral as a World Heritage site because of its influential Gothic architecture and links to French history contained in its “eight centuries of technical or artistic innovations.” Significant French historical events have unfolded inside, including Napoleon Bonaparte’s coronation as emperor in 1804 by Pope Pius VII.
In the wake of the 2019 fire, some 340,000 donors offered up around €900 million (~$950.3 million) towards the restoration of the 12th-century church, Le Monde reported. Around 45,000 of those donors were American, according to the New York Times. To date, the cause of the fire has not been identified, but the lead prosecutor in the investigation believed it to be accidental.
During his remarks for the opening ceremony, Macron noted that 2,000 oak beams were restored in the church and the new spire was recreated in an identical fashion to the one felled in the blaze. Firefighters prevented 16 bells from toppling during the fire, Macron said.
The president expressed gratitude for donors’ support and commended the “unprecedented fraternity” around the world in 2019 in response to the news of the burning Catholic cathedral. He also praised the approximately 2,000 workers who contributed to the repair of the church, including woodworkers, stonemasons, electricians, lumberjacks, locksmiths, polishers, sculptors, archaeologists, conservators, and art historians.
This weekend’s opulent reception marked the delivery of Macron’s five-year restoration promise in a moment of fleeting unity for a faltering French government. Last week, the French government under Macron-appointed Prime Minister Michel Barnier fell in a no-confidence vote, the first such ousting since 1962. Meanwhile, Macron’s approval ratings have fallen to all-time lows.
Ahead of the ceremony, Zelensky, United States President-elect Donald Trump, and Macron stood for a photo op and engaged in a private meeting, purportedly to discuss the war in Ukraine.
On Sunday, December 8, the church opened to the public in a mass requiring a reservation that was attended by 2,500 people.
An octave — or eight days of celebration, according to Christian custom — will take place through December 15, including a special ceremony for merchants and locals, after which the cathedral will open to the public for 12 hours a day.
