- index
- The Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris reopens !
Significant numbers for restoring and rebuilding the cathedral
Notre-Dame de Paris, five years after the fire
restoring the cathedral's silhouette - raising the spire again
- When will the cathedral re-open to the public?
- Notre-Dame de Paris: four years after the fire, reconstruction on schedule
cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris fire, 8 months on (31 december, 2019)
- financing the rebuilding
 abelard says
- that spire - la flèche
- the cathedral of notre dame and its predecessor, the basilica of st. étienne
- dimensions of notre-dame de paris
the south rose
the north and west roses
- bibliography
end notes
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The Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris reopens !
Interior of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, restored in 2024
The 861-year-old cathedral Notre Dame de Paris reopens next Sunday, the 8th December, 2024 on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
On the 7th December, there will be a concert with French and francophone artists.
‘The star of the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris is Notre-Dame de Paris‘, said Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, President of the French Bishops’ Conference.
Although French President Emmanuel Macron has sent many invitations to make the reopening an international event, there have been refusals. These include Pope Francis, the USA's current President and President Elect, and the British and Spanish sovereigns, Charles III and Felipe VI.
However, many French and foreign dignitaries will be there. Jill Biden, wife of the American President, will represent the USA, the first foreign donor. Italian President Sergio Mattarella confirmed his attendance, having commemorated the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death in May 2019 (remember that Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is in the Louvre just up the road), and had made a point of visiting Notre-Dame, ravaged by fire a few weeks earlier. A monument that ‘bears part of the history and civilisation of Europe’, he said at the time. Ekateríni Sakellaropoúlou, President of the Greece, will also be there.
The rumoured entrance fee to the cathedral is untrue. Entrance remains free to all visitors. Obviously, donations and contributions will be received with thanks.
Significant numbers for restoring and rebuilding the cathedral
5
The number of years since the fire of April 15, 2019 taken to do the restoration work, and the cathedral rises from its ashes.
Emmanuel Macron had committed to rebuilding the cathedral within this time frame, a promise received at the time with much scepticism. Many thought the challenge was an insane and impossible "project of the century" challenge.
93
This is the height in metres of the rebuilt spire, the same height as the one inaugurated on August 15, 1859. The original spire, erected in the 13th century, had become very weakened over the centuries, and had been dismantled after the Revolution between 1793 and 1797. Eugene Viollet Le Duc made a new (ugly) spire, whose design was inspired by the spire of Sainte-Croix cathedral in Orléans (itself inspired by that of Notre-Dame cathedral in Amiens). After fierce debates, Emmanuel Macron had decided to rebuild a new spire, identical to the one that had collapsed during the fire of April 2019, following to the letter the19th century plans of Jean-Baptiste Antoine Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
2,000
The number of people who have worked on the Notre-Dame construction site since the fire, the causes of which are still unknown.
10
The key places of the restoration work, including the forecourt and its limestone paving made by Bas Smets, to the organ, the largest in France with its 8,000 pipes, passing by the new roof framework, the previous one, the forest which dated from the Middle Ages, having been completely burnt.
350,000
The number of donors who participated in the reconstruction of the building. Since 1905 and the law of separation of the State and the Church, the State has owned religious buildings in France and, as such, their maintenance. However, the restoration of Notre-Dame was not financed by public funds, but only by private funds. The State quickly set up a very attractive tax reduction system for companies and individuals, in order to encourage donations. These have flowed in from all over the world.
The Pinault family, founder of Kering, the Arnault family, owner of LVMH, the Total Energies Foundation and the Bettencourt family, the largest shareholder of L'Oréal, have contributed the most to this fund. But solidarity has been much broader with thousands of small donors. The Notre-Dame Foundation alone has collected 358 million euros with an average donation from individuals of 236 euros.
Like many local authorities, Royan participated in the national collection to rebuild Notre-Dame de Paris. In April 2019, Mayor Patrick Marengo announced that the financial effort for the old Parisian lady would be one euro per inhabitant, or just under 20,000 euros.
836 million
In euros, the amount collected from companies and individuals to finance the reconstruction of Notre-Dame. This is more than the amount of the work, estimated at 700 million euros. So, what will the surplus be used for? Elected officials and architects argued for using it to restore other religious buildings in danger. However and finally, the Elysée, the Presidency, decided that the money collected for Notre-Dame will be used for Notre-Dame. It will go on financing other renovation projects on the exterior parts of the building: in particular the flying buttresses, the nave and the choir.
16
Most fortuitously, three days before the tragedy of the fire, the 16 statues adorning the spire were sent to Socra in Marsac-sur-l'Isle, for restoration.
 1,500
oak, slatted chairs made to replace those burnt a cinder in the nave. The chairs, of course,
were made by the expert craftsmen in the chair capital of France at Hagetmau.
115 stops and 7,952 pipes
Spared by the fire but covered in soot and lead dust, the pipes of the cathedral's great organ have been completely renovated by the craftsmen of the Cattiaux-Chevron workshop in Liourdres, Corrèze.
1,000
The number of ancient oak trees needed to rebuild the spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral, destroyed by the fire.
Given the requirements, these trees had to have diameters of 50 to 110 cm, which corresponds more or less to trees of 80 to 150 years, or even up to 200 years for the largest.
Hennessy Patronage has donated 36 mature oaks to the public institution Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, the project manager for the cathedral restoration project. These century-old trees were taken from the forest that the cognac merchant owns in Allier. Instead of making barrels for brandy, they were used to rebuild the spire and the frames lost in the fire.
The private forestry group Forey has also given oaks for the reconstruction, while five other oaks were felled in the Charente forest of Hort, with the assistance of the Joslet sawmill in Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure.
A further 1,000 oak trees rebuilt the forest that supports the cathedral's roof.
other craft work - lightening conductors another ironwork
Pro Tech Foudre in Saint-Michel-de-Double, specialising in ‘aesthetic’ lightning conductors for historic monuments, was commissioned in 2011 to bring the lightning protection system at Notre-Dame de Paris up to standard. Although it withstood the fire, Pro Tech Foudre rebuilt certain parts of the system, and its boss, Anthony Dupuy, also worked on the lightning conductor on the spire, 106 metres high, using his rope access equipment.
Notre-Dame de Paris, five years after the fire
Five years to the day after the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris, the craftsmen who worked on its reconstruction say they are satisfied to see the project soon completed.
The images are still in everyone's heads: Notre-Dame de Paris on fire, the spire collapsing, the roof threatening to do the same. It was five years ago, April 15, 2019. The reconstruction, still in progress, is well advanced. Since February, a new spire, an exact replica of the one designed by Viollet-le-Duc, has once again pointed into the sky of the capital . The reopening is scheduled for December 8 . In the meantime, hundreds of craftsmen and workers have visited the site one after the other to restore it to its splendour.
Restored stained glass windows, protected pending reopening
Restorer Emma Groult spent a year and a half looking after the stained glass windows of the cathedral which she found, immediately after the fire, "in relatively good condition". She explains: "They had suffered a lot of dust, but there was no damage, very little melted lead. Despite the disaster, they were relatively well preserved." They still had to be dismantled to transport them to the MurAnése workshop in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. There, they were able to be cleaned and restored before being reinstalled where they were, on the upper bays of the choir.
Of this extraordinary project, Emma certainly remembers the tight deadline, but also the excitement on the site: "all the strata (levels) are being done at the same time! We are not used to there being excavations on the ground, while we work on the stained glass windows above and while a frame is being rebuilt above our heads . The stained glass windows are now in their place and have been protected while awaiting the end of other reconstruction operations."
Restoration of wall paintings still in progress
Marie Parant is still hard at work in the cathedral. Her work restoring the chapel murals will not be completed until this summer . But she notes with pleasure the progress of the work: “When we arrived, the building was like an exoskeleton, filled with scaffolding, we could barely see the walls. Now, there is almost no scaffolding left. the interior. We are reclaiming the monument little by little, I think that our memory will forget these bad times."
restoring the cathedral's silhouette - raising the spire again
For his first speech since his appointment, Philippe Jost, previously the right-hand man of General Jean-Louis Georgelin, assured (on franceinfo Radio) that the reopening of the cathedral, ravaged by the gigantic fire in 2019, was still planned for December 2024.
The sudden death of Jean-Louis Georgelin, Monsieur Reconstruction, in the Pyrenees mountains has not had an impact on the pace of the work, which will continue as he had decided. "We owe it to many, but we also owe it to him,” said Mr. Jost.
The spire for the end of 2023
M. Jost expects that the spire and the silhouette of the cathedral will be visible during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, taking place on the Seine.
“The silhouette of the cathedral has completely changed since the fire. I hope that, during the Olympic Games in July 2024, we will have the large roof of the cathedral with the spire above. Then everyone will perceive at that moment that we are really very close to reopening a few months later,” he continued.
The spire, a “masterpiece of wooden framework”, will rise up to 100 metres in height and will be visible “at the end of 2023”. It will be revealed “as and when we cover the spire with the protection of its wooden frame, from the first half of 2024”.
Inside, Notre-Dame “is still under construction but, when you enter, you are struck by its brilliance”, the cleaning and interior restorations being “almost completed”, Mr. Jost also announced.
Right: Spire that existed in the 12th century
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