Notre-Dame in Paris will be fully opened in December 2024. No retreat from Bakhmut: the decision of Zelenskyy and his generals in 4 points

The fire-damaged Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris will reopen for the feast of Mary on December 8, 2024. “It will be fully accessible to services and to visitors,” Philippe Jost, deputy head of the reconstruction authority, said in Paris on Monday.

On December 8, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, patron saint of Paris Cathedral. “We will then discover a cathedral like we have never seen before,” he said at the opening of an exhibition on the restoration under the cathedral’s forecourt. The renovation is on schedule.

The exterior of the cathedral will continue to be restored after the reopening, but this work is no longer related to the aftermath of the terrible fire of April 15, 2019.

The exhibition on the state of restoration should also interest young people in the related professions. “We are struggling to hire young people,” says Jost. Experts are needed for the restoration, such as foresters who have selected the right trees for the reconstruction of the roof construction, stonemasons, carpenters, industrial climbers, but also restorers and organ tuners.

“The work in the cathedral has come a long way,” Jost said. The organ, which was hardly damaged by the fire but was heavily contaminated, has now been cleaned. The reinstallation of France’s largest organ with its 8,000 pipes should be done at night when there is no noise.

Interior design competition

The Archdiocese of Paris has launched a competition to redecorate the interior. These include the altar, the baptismal font and the 1500 seats. Due to the strict separation of church and state, the archdiocese has no decision-making power in the restoration of the church. Paris Cathedral, like all religious buildings built before 1905, is state property.

The fire sparked an international wave of support. A total of 854 million euros in donations was collected. It was decided to rebuild the cathedral identically and with original materials.

The 19th-century turret, which caught fire and fell through the roof into the cathedral, will be completed later this year. (nss/sda/afp)