Devastated by a fire in 2019, Notre-Dame de Paris, a masterpiece of Gothic art, reopens its doors on Saturday. A highly anticipated global event after more than five years of a colossal restoration project, financed by an unprecedented influx of donations.
The President-elect of the United States Donald Trump, who arrived shortly before 7:00 a.m. by private plane, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prince William “on behalf of the United Kingdom”… Around forty heads of state and government, as well as that several crowned heads are expected at the festivities on Saturday and Sunday.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, in difficulty after the censorship of his government, is banking heavily on this meeting, elevated to the rank of “French pride”, like the Paris Olympics this summer.
The ceremonies will begin at 7:00 p.m., with the opening of the cathedral doors by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, after striking three blows with a crozier. They will continue indoors, and not outdoors, as initially planned, due to the windy weather.
Planned in particular are a speech by Mr. Macron, who had set the “insane challenge” of a restoration in five years following the fire, a religious service in the presence of 1,500 guests and the reading of a message from the Pope, absent, “intended for the French”.
On the night of April 15, 2019, the images of the roof of Notre-Dame devoured by flames and the collapse of its spire stunned the whole world.
Reconstructed identically to that designed by the 19th century architect Eugène Viollet-Le-Duc, the famous jagged point once again soars into the sky, and the cathedral internally radiates a luminosity unknown in living memory.
It is “a cathedral like we have never seen it” that the first guests will discover, promised, on Franceinfo radio on Saturday, Philippe Jost, boss of the restoration site who succeeded General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who died in 2023.
He said he was “happy” to “show the whole world” a “great collective success and a source of pride for all of France”.
“Much more beautiful”
“Many people told me: ‘give us back the cathedral as it was’. But it will be much more beautiful,” Mgr Laurent Ulrich promised AFP.
The blondness of its cleaned stones, the dazzling colors of the partially restored stained glass windows and those of the painted decorations of the chapels are enhanced by new subdued and adjustable lighting.
Paintings by 17th century masters, masterful secular sculptures and art objects have been reinstalled along a more airy stroll.
The refined central axis, where new minimalist liturgical furniture in solid brown bronze sits, gives the full extent of the building, built in the 12th and 13th centuries, with a length of almost 150 meters, a width of some 50 meters, the nave of which rises to a height of more than 40 meters under the roof.
One thousand five hundred new light oak chairs are also intended to accommodate the “14 to 15 million” visitors expected each year.
Also included in the program of the reopening celebrations is the broadcast of a film retracing the reconstruction of the more than 860-year-old cathedral, the parade of 160 firefighters and craftsman builders. The brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, French violinist and cellist, will perform “La passacaille” by Handel, arranged by Johan Halvorsen.
At the end of the republican and liturgical ceremonies, around 8:40 p.m., a dinner will be offered at the Elysée by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron to the heads of state, government and international organizations.
Two masses
The unpredictable weather also disrupted the evening’s musical program and the concert planned afterwards will be broadcast on a delayed basis.
It will highlight classical music with the Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the French public radio station Radio France, conducted by Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel. The Chinese virtuoso pianist Lang Lang, the South African soprano Pretty Yende and the Franco-Swiss tenor Benjamin Bernheim will also be there.
Alongside, for a pop touch, the French Clara Luciani and Vianney, the Canadian Garou – who made himself known to the general public in the role of Quasimodo in the musical Notre-Dame de Paris – or even the Franco-Beninese Angélique Kidjo. The names of Paul McCartney and Pharrell Williams have also been mentioned but not confirmed.
On Sunday, two masses are planned, at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. The first, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, heads of state and government as well as religious figures, will consecrate the altar. The second is open to the public, upon registration.
An exceptional security system, inspired by that of the Olympic Games, is planned in a context of “very high level of terrorist threat”, according to the police headquarters, with 6,000 police officers and gendarmes mobilized.
At 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, only a few night owls seeking to return home through the blocked streets were walking around the cathedral, noted an AFP journalist.
Extended opening hours, specific services and for the general public will follow one another until Pentecost, with a new free online reservation system to facilitate the flow of visitors.
The reconstruction and restoration project will have mobilized 250 companies as well as 2,000 craftspeople. And cost nearly 700 million euros, financed by 846 million donations from around the world.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
Related News :