France's Macron sees Notre Dame cathedral's restoration more than 5 years after it was gutted by fire
CBSNOV 20 2024
French Pres. Emmanuel Macron conducted a tour of the newly renovated Notre-Dame Cathedral, officially set to reopen on Dec. 7, five years after a massive fire gutted the Gothic masterpiece.
The five-year restoration project, which cost €700M ($739M), mobilized 2K craftspeople, including stonemasons, carpenters, sculptors, and organ builders, to restore the 12th-century monument.
The renovation included cleaning 42K square meters of stone, restoring 8K organ pipes, rebuilding the wooden framework roof, and reconstructing the 96-meter-tall spire that collapsed during the fire.
The restoration represents a triumph of French craftsmanship and determination, successfully meeting President Macron's ambitious five-year deadline while making the cathedral even more beautiful than before through meticulous attention to historical detail and preservation of cultural heritage.
The modernization efforts and rapid reconstruction timeline may have compromised the cathedral's historical authenticity, with some original medieval elements lost forever and new materials and techniques potentially altering the building's character.