the essential
Notre-Dame de Paris unveils to the world this Friday, November 29 its “brilliance” regained five years after the devastating fire of April 2019, thanks to a final site visit by Emmanuel Macron who intends to pride himself on having held its “insane challenge” of reopening in five years.
A big week before the reopening with great fanfare and the return of the public to Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, burned in 2019, it is through a stroll by the Head of State, broadcast live in the morning this Friday on several French and international channels, that the reconstructed cathedral is visible for the first time.
“Even more beautiful than before, in the rediscovered brilliance of the blondness of the stones and the color of the chapels,” wrote the president in a document distributed to the media. This “project of the century” constituted a “challenge that many considered insane and that we will meet this December 7,” he adds.
A large number of foreign leaders are invited next weekend, for the grand reopening to the public, in the hope for Emmanuel Macron of making it a global event, but the list of those present is not yet known, and the Pope Francis preferred to go to Corsica a week later rather than to Paris.
“Immaculate whiteness”
This Friday, November 29, 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 in particular, from wood craftsmen to metal and stone craftsmen, from scaffolders to roofers, from campanists to art restorers, from gilders to masons and sculptors, from carpenters to organ builders, architects, archaeologists, engineers and planners to logistical or administrative functions,” said Emmanuel Macron.
The work made it possible to clean the dirt accumulated over the decades, and the “immaculate whiteness” of the Catholic building looks dazzling “like never before”, according to the presidential entourage.
“Wonder”, “striking” view, “fireworks of colors”: presidential advisers promised a breathtaking spectacle, and a striking contrast with the “yawning vault”, the “charred waste” and the smell “unbearable” that Emmanuel Macron discovered on the evening of the fire, April 15, 2019. The flames had notably ravaged the roof and the frame of this masterpiece of Gothic art from the 12th century, which is among the most visited monuments in Europe.
