In a few days now, the inauguration of Notre Dame de Paris will take place, which was ravaged by a fire 5 years ago. A titanic project estimated at 700 million euros. In particular, it was necessary to replace blue stones, destroyed during the disaster. Stones from a Belgian supplier, established in the Soignies region.
In the heart of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, within twelve days, the scaffolding will have disappeared. The craftsmen will have refined the smallest details, such as the restoration of the emblematic floor with paving, a sort of giant chess game, formed with bluish stones.
These stones, 800 square meters of them, come from Belgium! At the Hainaut quarries, in Soignies, the specialty, blue stone, has been exploited here since the Middle Ages. Their products can already be found in the Louvre Museum, Abu Dhabi, New York and now in the famous French cathedral.
“It is an emblematic building on an architectural level, on a historical level, on a literary level. The whole planet knows Notre-Dame, I think there are 12 million visitors per year, so it really is the dream reference“, notes Philippe Sequaris, product manager at Carrières du Hainaut.
He is one of 80 French artisans who called on this Belgian company for the quality of its product. With ultra-precise specifications: slabs measuring 64 cm by 64, 5 cm thick, were required. Suffice it to say that the cutting was precise. Zola Neftali is one of the workers in this precision work. “We put the beautiful pieces for the cathedral. If I’m a passenger in Paris, I’ll still go see the cathedral. I’ve been there before when I was little, but why not go see my work, see what it’s like?“, he explains, all smiles.
Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral will reopen its doors on the weekend of December 7 and 8. It took 5 years of work and some 700 million euros.
blue stone Notre-Dame Paris
