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The restoration work of the Notre-Damme cathedral, three years after the fire, does not stop. Those responsible for the work have had to remove thousands of rubble, employ hundreds of people and artisans in France to restore the splendor of this Parisian icon. The reopening is scheduled for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Three years ago, on April 15, 2019, the Notre-Damme cathedral in Paris burned before the stunned eyes of the world. The fire left a thick layer of soot and caused the collapse of the central structure, the collision of the famous needle, the clock and part of the vault.
The 12th-century Gothic cathedral, an icon of Paris, received some 12 million visitors a year. The news of its partial destruction led some 340,000 people from 150 countries to donate nearly 844 million euros for its restoration.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, who visited the work, said that being in the cathedral was like reliving the moment of the fire and that “some of us are there every day”, he also indicated that he believes that in these three years they have ” made extraordinary progress.”
For Macron, while Europe is in the midst of the war in Ukraine and the world is coming out of Covid-19, reconstruction “is also a testimony of hope that corresponds to this period and it seems to me that it makes a lot of sense. It is reborn.”
An opening scheduled for 2024
Now, the work to restore it to its former splendor and reopen it before the 2024 Olympics continues. The cleaning of the soot from the walls, vaults and the floor is nearing completion. The hole left by the fire is filled with scaffolding.
Workers had to remove debris and burned beams, reinforce the flying buttresses (half-arch structures placed outside) and remove dust from the structure’s 450 tons of lead.
For the reconstruction, they assembled a metal scaffolding that cost about 151 million euros. For the remains of the restoration they have used specialized workshops from all over France. The 18th-century central organ, which was saved from the flames and is the largest in all of France, was dismantled and cleaned.
The stained glass windows, statues and paintings, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, were also sent for restoration.
Touches of modern and postmodern masters
In the first half of 2023 they hope to have completed the medieval wooden framework of the choir nave and spire, which dated from the 19th century.
One thousand trees from national and private forests throughout France have been used in the work. To rebuild the vaults, stones are used that are being extracted this week from the quarries.
Finding the original colors has not been an easy task, the architects have carried out tests in two of the 24 chapels of the cathedral to recreate them.
In March, the work had to be temporarily stopped, after a 14th-century lead sarcophagus was discovered on the ground, as well as the remains of a wall made of decorative stone.
The French diocese wants to add new contemporary touches to the renovation and integrate a modern lighting system, mobile benches, biblical phrases that would be projected on the walls in several languages, and works of art by modern and post-modern masters.
With AFP and EFE
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