The French president, Emmanuel Macronthanked this Friday those involved in the restoration of Our Lady of Paris for having “turned charcoal into art”, during his visit to the works that served to discover the new look of its interior, brighter and with whitewashed walls.
“The shock of the reopening will be, I believe, as strong as that of the fire, but it will be a shock of hope“said the head of state in a speech given inside the temple.
He did it before something more than 1,300 workers, experts and patrons of this restoration who were able to enter the renovated temple smiling, amazed and without stopping taking photos with their cell phones during the last visit to the works before the grand reopening, December 7 and 8after five years of work.
Macron did not fail to highlight that, when the fire occurred on April 15, 2019, reopening in 2024 seemed an impossible goal. But thanks to the sum of the will, the effort and the enthusiasm of all those involved It was possible to close this “national wound” within the established period.
“In April 2019 – he recalled – we decided that it was going to last 5 years. It is true that at the beginning they told us a lot that it would not be possible, that it was crazy, that it was arbitrary (…) They did it. They achieved something that seemed impossible”.
Notre Dame belongs to believers but also to all of France and the entire world, he said, and is “bigger than us”. This is demonstrated in his opinion by the wave of global solidarity that followed the fire and materialized in 340,000 patrons from fifty countries.
Visibly moved, he had a special memory for the general Jean-Louis Georgelinwho was in charge of the reconstruction project until his accidental death in August 2023. “I think I would have been proud and happy”, he assured.
Nor did he fail to highlight the action of the Paris firefighterswho gave an example of “courage, greatness and sacrifice” to preserve the Gothic temple from total destruction by flames. They were, according to the president, the first to begin rebuilding Notre Dame from that same day.
Then they came architects, stonemasons, carpenters, carvers, painters and countless specialists whom Macron invited this Friday to never forget “that for 5 years of their lives they have shared the most beautiful work of the century.”
The reconstruction, in which more than 2,000 workers and 250 companies have participated over these five years, has left Notre Dame essentially faithful to its previous configuration, although modifications have been made to raise safety standards and avoid accidents such as that of 2019.
The project has had a budget of 700 million euros and although the official grand reopening will take place on December 7 -followed, the day 8of a reopening to the public with a mass in the morning and another in the afternoon -, the works on Notre Dame must continue until 2030.
(With information from EFE)
