(Paris) The reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is proceeding smoothly enough to allow its reopening to visitors and worshipers as planned at the end of 2024, less than six years after the fire which ravaged its roof, officials assured Monday. .
The emblematic spire of the cathedral, which had collapsed dramatically in the fire, will gradually reappear above the Parisian monument this year, a strong signal of its rebirth, declared the person in charge of this colossal project, General army Jean-Louis Georgelin.
The reconstruction itself began last year, after more than two years of preparatory work to make the monument stable enough for craftsmen to get started safely.
PHOTO JOEL SAGET, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
The authorities have chosen to rebuild this 12th century monument identically.e century, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. We will therefore rebuild the 93-meter spire added in the 19th century.e century by the architect Viollet-le-Duc.
In the meantime, an exhibition entitled Notre-Dame de Paris: at the heart of the construction site opens to visitors on Tuesday under the cathedral forecourt. Accessible free of charge, it highlights the operations in progress on the construction site as well as the know-how and skills of the workers and craftsmen. The exhibition also features remnants of the fire and works of art from the cathedral.
General Georgelin said Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024, in line with the target set by President Emmanuel Macron just after the fire – but just a little too late for the Olympics scheduled for the previous summer.
Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak, however, clarified to The Associated Press that not all of the renovation will be complete by then: there will still be renovations going on in 2025, she pointed out.
In the meantime, the new exhibit will allow tourists, including those who came for the Summer Olympics, to experience what that experience of visiting Notre Dame could be like in a whole new way, Minister Abdul-Malak said. In addition to the free visit, a virtual reality show will allow paying visitors to immerse themselves in the history of the cathedral.
Every day, in the capital and across France, around a thousand people work for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame, General Georgelin said. “We have a lot of different work to do: the framework, the painting, the stones, the vault, the organ, the stained glass, and so on. »
PHOTO IAN LANGSDON, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Philippe Jost, director general of the government agency in charge of the reconstruction, underlined that the result will be faithful to the original architecture, both because it sticks to the forms that have disappeared from the cathedral and because ‘we also stick to the materials and construction methods of medieval times.
“We don’t make concrete vaults that look like stone: we make stone vaults, which we rebuild as they were built in the Middle Ages,” Jost said. He adds that the roof structure will also be made of oak beams, as it was initially.
