Half of French people plan to visit Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral after its reopening

Notre-Dame de Paris is due to reopen to the public on December 8 after five years of colossal reconstruction following the fire which ravaged it in 2019.

Nearly half of French people (47%) plan to visit Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral after its reopening, planned in two weeks, according to a Verian study* carried out for The Crossin partnership with franceinfo and published Sunday November 24. The famous Parisian building was ravaged by a violent fire on April 15, 2019. Five years later, the restored cathedral is due to reopen its doors to the public on December 8. An impatiently awaited reopening for some French people, since 6% of respondents assure that they plan to visit the cathedral “very quickly”.

This reopening arouses pride for just under half of those surveyed (43%), but more among practicing Catholics (65%). The fact remains that almost a third of French people (29%) feel a feeling of indifference towards this project. According to this study, “the main expectation of the French regarding the reopening of the cathedral is the rigorous preservation of the historical heritage” for 51% of French people and 63% of practicing Catholics. 42% of practicing Catholics hope to find a cathedral more beautiful than before, while 34% of believers of other religions and 23% of French people want better accessibility for visitors.

For two thirds of respondents (65%), the completion of the work on Notre-Dame in five years is a demonstration of the know-how of French craftsmanship. Half (52%) believe that this demonstrates architectural prowess. Practicing Catholics consider that this project is a symbol of France's capacity to unite (51% versus 35% on average) and proof of successful cooperation between Church and State (42% versus 20%). % on average).

The study emphasizes the feeling of attachment of the French to Notre-Dame (53% on average, 81% of practicing Catholics). For one in two French people, the cathedral remains a symbol of French heritage (50%), a piece of history (49%) and a universal heritage (44%). Its religious dimension is, however, less cited: 29% of French people (53% of practicing Catholics) mention Notre-Dame first and foremost as a Catholic place of worship, while 16% of French people and 33% of practicing Catholics see it above all as a place of worship. space of spirituality open to all.

*Methodology: This quantitative study called “The French and Notre-Dame” was carried out by the Verian study group for The Crossin partnership with franceinfo. It was carried out online from September 29 to October 1, 2024 with a sample of 1,000 people, representative of the French population aged 18 and over. “To ensure representativeness, quotas were applied to the variables of sex, age, CSP of the reference person, stratification by region and category of agglomeration”.