Five years after the Paris cathedral was destroyed by fire, Notre Dame will finally reopen on Saturday. World leaders, including US President-elect Donald Trump, will be present to commemorate the restoration’s astonishing speed.
President Emmanuel Macron has hailed Notre Dame’s rebirth as a testament to French ingenuity and tenacity, but it comes at a challenging moment for the nation, since a 2019 fire destroyed its roof and tower.
Political unrest that has left France without a functioning government and in a budget crisis has undermined the sense of national achievement in repairing a beloved symbol of Paris.
Macron is hoping that the first full service inside Notre Dame and the sight of around 40 world leaders in Paris might provide a fleeting sense of pride and unity — as the Paris Olympics did in July and August.
The re-opening “is the proof that we know how to do grand things, we know how to do the impossible and the whole world has admired us for it on two occasions this year,” Macron said during a televised address on Thursday, referring to the widely praised Olympics.
He did, however, slightly ruin the excitement of the reopening last week when he showed off the cathedral’s newly cleaned limestone walls, new furnishings, and vaulted wooden roof made from old oak trees that were chosen from France’s best woods.
Despite estimates that it might take decades, the reconstruction project, which was funded by donations, cost about 700 million euros ($750 million). The reopening was accomplished in five years.
The general in charge of the project died last year while trekking in the Pyrenees, and workers had to deal with issues including lead poisoning and the COVID-19 pandemic.
