Notre Dame reopens 5 years after shocking blaze
PARIS—Notre Dame will formally reopen Saturday five years after the Paris cathedral was devastated by fire, with US president-elect Donald Trump among world leaders there to celebrate its remarkably rapid restoration.
Held up as an example of French creativity and resilience by President Emmanuel Macron, Notre Dame’s renaissance so soon after a 2019 blaze that destroyed its roof and spire comes at a difficult time for the country.
The sense of national accomplishment in restoring a beloved symbol of Paris has been undercut by political turmoil that has left France without a proper government and in a budget crisis.
Macron is hoping that the first full service inside Notre Dame and the sight of around 40 world leaders in Paris might provide a fleeting sense of pride and unity—as the Paris Olympics did in July and August.
Doing the ‘impossible’
The reopening “is the proof that we know how to do grand things, we know how to do the impossible and the whole world has admired us for it on two occasions this year,” Macron said during a televised address on Thursday, referring to the widely praised Olympics.
During a visit with TV cameras last week however, he somewhat undermined the suspense behind the reopening, revealing the cathedral’s freshly scrubbed limestone walls, new furniture and vaulted wooden roof cut from ancient oak trees selected from the finest forests of France.
The reconstruction effort has cost around $750 million, financed from donations, with the reopening achieved within five years despite predictions it could take decades.
Workers had to overcome problems with lead pollution, the Covid-19 epidemic, and the general overseeing the project falling to his death while hiking in the Pyrenees last year.
Trump
While the reborn 12th-century architectural masterpiece will be the main focus of public attention on Saturday, TV cameras are also likely to linger on Trump who will be making his first overseas trip since winning reelection to the White House last month.
He accepted an invitation from Macron to attend earlier this week, saying the French leader had done “a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so.”
US President Joe Biden will be represented by his wife Jill, while Britain’s Prince William and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be present.
