The diocese of Paris expects to receive many visitors in the months following the reopening. So, to streamline access to the building, a reservation system will be launched.
The excitement generated by the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral on December 7 will undoubtedly attract a lot of people. To manage this influx and allow everyone to enter the building ravaged five years ago by fire, a free reservation system will be launched.
The first slots will be open from December 8. The first week of reopening, the building will even be accessible “until 10 p.m.”, said Mgr Ribadeau-Dumas during a press conference this Wednesday, November 13, adding that, “on December 16, ordinary life will to resume”.
To manage the flow of visitors, an online reservation system will be set up and a mobile application and the cathedral's website will make it possible to support the public.
Reservations will be possible two days before the day of the visit. The gauge is between 1,900 and 3,000 people in the cathedral, according to the person in charge.
A defense of the principle of gratuity
The religious authorities indicated that the slots would evolve according to the occupancy rate of the site assessed quarter hour by quarter hour. A line without reservation will also be offered for people who have not reserved.
Religious authorities also indicated that they once again rejected Culture Minister Rachida Dati's proposal to charge entrance fees to visitors from outside the European Union.
“There is great impatience to welcome the whole world, 15 million visitors, under the vaults. It is up to us to welcome them generously and to share with them, free of charge, the beauty found there (…) We maintain our unchanged position of the church on the need for free access to churches and cathedrals. This principle does not conflict with the need to safeguard the religious heritage of our country. express ourselves and propose solutions We will be there to discuss this important subject with the conference of bishops of France,” added Archbishop Ulrich.
Group visits authorized from February 1
If the diocese has decided to favor individual visitors in the first months of reopening, Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral will be open to groups of pilgrims from February 1. The diocese indicated during its press conference that 40,000 groups were already registered. Finally, cultural groups will be able to visit the monument from March.
The application, which should be launched at the end of November, will offer five tour routes in French, English and Spanish (general tour, pilgrim route, family route, easy to read and understand route and audio description route). Other languages will be added to the offerings in the coming months.
