This Friday, November 29, 2024, Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral was unveiled to the world. A reconstruction which took 5 years at a cost of around 700 million euros. But who really paid for this titanic project?
The image is highly anticipated. Notre-Dame de Paris will rise from its ashes. A restoration possible thanks to the 700 million – mainly donations – of euros collected.
No less than 340,000 private donors, from 150 different countries, made it possible to mobilize these 846 million euros dedicated entirely to Notre-Dame Cathedral. According to specialist Stéphane Bern, of this sum, “the vast majority” represents “individual donations of up to 1,000 euros“. “There were 300,000 small donors” he specifies, according to the Huffington Post.
A surge of generosity was also noted across the Atlantic, since 62 million euros were paid by Americans. “The Americans are the biggest donors, by far, after the French”indicated Michel Picaud, president of the association Friends of Notre-Dame de Paristo our colleagues Parisian.
Many “big donors”
Bernard Arnault, CEO of the luxury group LVMH, also contributed to this strong mobilization of donations. The latter made two donations of 100 million euros in 2019. The Bettencourt Meyers family and their L'Oréal group also contributed, allowing them to reach almost half of the total funds raised.
Coming behind, the Pinault family, majority shareholder of the Kering group, and the Total group, who both donated 100 million euros each. There are also around ten other major donors, who donated ten million euros. This is the case, for example, of the Bouygues family and JC Decaux.
These big fortunes had quickly come under fire from critics, some denouncing the fact of seeing it as an opportunity for tax deductions, or even to improve their images with the French. Bernard Arnault quickly announced that the law on patronage would not apply.
“Raising 850 million euros is unheard of”
Concerning the 140 million euros that remain, they will be used for the restoration of the bedside and the flying buttresses. The collection is not yet finished. Other donation campaigns will be launched by associations, for the period of 2025-2028, to finance work outside the sacristy and the presbytery.
“Raising 850 million euros on a single building, in a few months, is unheard of. This collection is part of the extraordinary nature of this event”had declared on France Info Bertrand de Feydeau, vice-president of the Heritage Foundation for Notre-Dame de Paris. A mass will be given on December 11, dedicated to all donors and patrons.
Related News :