Today, it is clear that the bet has paid off. If some, a bit nitpicky, will say that the 5-year deadline has been exceeded – when the reopening scheduled for December 8, we will be at 5 years, 7 months and 23 days -, the feat remains remarkable.
The world rediscovers Notre-Dame de Paris: Macron predicts “a shock”
This Friday, the French president also underlined it during the inauguration of the renovated Notre-Dame: “The blaze of Notre-Dame was a national wound and you were its remedy through will, through work, through commitment, he addressed to the attention of the workers who worked to renovate Notre-Dame. You have achieved what we thought impossible.
The Notre-Paris fire caused shock waves throughout the world: all reactions abroad!
An inauguration which marks the (almost) end of a titanic project, of which here are the crazy figures
846
The day after the fire, an appeal for donations was launched to rebuild Notre-Dame. A call heard: 830 million euros were offered by 340,000 donors from 150 different countries. €700 million have already been invested in the work. The remaining 130 million will be used to finalize the project.
2064
If the construction work will continue for a few more months – almost invisible to the public – Notre-Dame will once again be accessible to visitors from December 8. Or after 2,064 days of closure.
2.000
In total, 250 companies and 2,000 workers (architects, engineers, stonecutters, workers, etc.) were mobilized during this construction site of the century.
1.300
The reconstruction of Notre-Dame required the creation of 1,300 m3 of stones, the vast majority of which had to be cut by hand.
Why will work on Notre-Dame de Paris continue after its reopening?
450
Before starting to rebuild, it was necessary to decontaminate. In particular the 450 tonnes of molten lead which were scattered over an area of 40,000 m2.
8.000
The monumental organ of Notre-Dame de Paris had to be completely dismantled and cleaned. In total, it has 8,000 pipes
Notre-Dame de Paris: images inside the cathedral, one month after the fire
374
According to expert estimates, the total weight of the new framework, rebuilt in accordance with medieval techniques, would weigh nearly 374 tonnes.
400
In total, 400 century-old trees had to be cut down to recreate the framework destroyed by the flames and which is nicknamed “the Forest”
Discover the 360° aerial photo of Notre-Dame the day after the fire
67
This is in meters the height of the spire reconstructed identically to the original designed by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century. Its summit rises 96 meters from the ground.
15
It is estimated that 15 million people per year will visit the reopened Notre-Dame de Paris. Before the fire, this figure was 12 million.
10.000
This is the roof area in m2 that had to be renovated. That’s the equivalent of two football fields.
A devastating fire is underway at Notre-Dame de Paris: the spire has collapsed (PHOTOS+VIDEOS)
2.000
This is the surface area of stained glass windows that had to be restored after the fire.
7.000
The restoration of the vault of the transept crossing required the installation of nearly 7,000 voussoirs, i.e. stones previously cut in the workshop.
48
For the installation of the new spire, a 600-ton scaffolding with 48 levels had to be erected.
1.000
Anchored 30 meters from the ground, above the transept crossing, the spire is a structural masterpiece made up of around 1000 pieces of wood.
1500
In total, 1,500 new chairs were built for Notre-Dame. They were all blessed.