While waiting for the now imminent return of the public, it is through a stroll by French President Emmanuel Macron, broadcast live in the morning on several French and international channels, that Notre-Dame de Paris, partly rebuilt, will be visible for the first time. “Even more beautiful than before, in the rediscovered radiance of the blondness of the stones and the color of the chapels», Writes the French president in a document distributed to the media.
The French presidency, in presenting this visit to the press, did not skimp on superlatives, using the word “glow». «Wonder», vue «gripping», «fireworks of colors“: presidential advisers promised a breathtaking spectacle, and a stark contrast to the “gaping vault“, THE “calcined waste» and the smell «intolerable» that Emmanuel Macron discovered on the evening of the fire, April 15, 2019.
The fire, the causes of which have still not been determined, had notably ravaged the roof and the framework of the cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic art from the 12th century, which is among the most visited monuments in Europe . The spire of Viollet-le-Duc, which collapsed from a height of 93 meters, was reconstructed identically.
In a journey of around ten stages, from the square to the framework, via the nave, the crossing of the transept or even the Saint-Marcel chapel, the presidential visit was designed to show the main achievements of this site titanic.
At each stop, Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by his wife and the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich, will speak with some of the people who worked to resurrect Notre-Dame. Among them, the Belgian architect and landscaper Bas Smets, who designed the new square, Guillaume Bardet, the designer who created the new liturgical furniture, Jean-Louis Bidet, one of the carpenters, Marie Pouliot and Marie Parant, painting restorers mural, or Pascal Prunet, chief architect of historic monuments.
All 2,000 people who contributed to the work have been invited, of whom at least 1,300 should be present. “This final site visit is an opportunity to thank them“, affirmed Emmanuel Macron. Patrons will also be in the spotlight, while the project, which cost some 700 million euros, was financed exclusively by donations.
The public will still have to wait a good week to access the cathedral: on December 7, the Head of State will speak on the square, before a liturgical ceremony inside for the official reopening, a prelude to the inaugural mass celebrated on December 8. Many foreign leaders have been invited to the reopening, but the list of those who will attend has not yet been communicated.
Par Le360 (with AFP)
11/29/2024 at 7:58 a.m.
