Paris
After fire: Renovation of Notre-Dame is making progress
After the fire, large parts of the church were badly damaged. photo
© -/Timelapsego © Rebâtir Notre-Dame/dpa
The images of the flames rising meters high into the sky from the famous Notre-Dame church in Paris went around the world in 2019. President Macron then made a promise. Can he keep it?
The renovation of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was badly damaged in a major fire, is progressing and the work is on schedule. “Fifteen months before the reopening of the cathedral on December 8, 2024, the tangible signs of progress on the construction site are increasing,” said the chairman of the construction company, Philippe Jost, in Paris.
Work on the roof structure and the tower top was progressing. Final cleaning work inside would be completed, the stained glass windows would be reinserted and the wall paintings in the church would be restored. The eight bronze bells from the northern bell tower are currently being cleaned, overhauled and partly restored. They were cast and installed just ten years ago on the occasion of the cathedral’s 850th anniversary. Two of them were damaged by the heat.
On April 15, 2019, the world-famous attraction on Paris’ Île de la Cité went up in flames. The fire spread through the roof structure and then engulfed large parts of the medieval building. The inferno in the heart of the French capital caused international shock. The day after the tragedy, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would rebuild the partially destroyed church within five years. An ambitious promise that few believed at the time.