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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024

On 15 April 2019, a tremendous fire destroyed the roof and spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral, one of the most iconic monuments not only of Paris but of the entire world. Work began immediately, which took two years just to secure the structure.

After this first phase, 1,000 craftsmen and masters from all over France got busy and even now are working to restore the church to its former and identical splendour. The work was also financed through numerous public donations.

The French President Macron hoped for a reopening by the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics, but this will not be possible. In fact, it has been officially announced that the religious services, and in general the reopening of the cathedral to the public, will be in December 2024. Penultimate Easter without mass, then, in perhaps the most famous cathedral in the world.

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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
On 15 April 2019, a tremendous fire destroyed the roof and spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral, one of the most iconic monuments not only of Paris but of the entire world. Work began immediately, which took two years just to secure the structure. After this first phase, 1,000 craftsmen and masters from all over France got busy and even now are working to restore the church to its former and identical splendour. The work was also financed through numerous public donations. French President Macron hoped for a reopening by the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics, but this will not be possible. In fact, it has been officially announced that the religious services, and in general the reopening of the Cathedral to the public, will be in December 2024. Penultimate Easter without mass, then, in perhaps the most famous cathedral in the world.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
News that will undoubtedly make all Parisians happy, but not only: in an interview just over a month ago, General Georgelin, who was given the task by the government to coordinate the renovation work, announced that the cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen to the public in December 2024 after five years of tight work.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
On 15 April 2019, the cathedral was hit by a serious fire, which caused the flèche and roof to collapse, with the transept fall. The relentless work of the fire brigade managed to save the supporting structure and most of the works of art, including those in the cathedral treasury.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
Following the closure of the cathedral, the main celebrations that used to take place inside it were moved to the church of Saint-Sulpice, in the 6th arrondissement, the largest in the city after Notre-Dame. As of 1 September 2019, the daily celebrations also resumed at the church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, in the 1st arrondissement.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
The work will therefore be completed, or at least the public will be allowed in, in December 2024, five months later than announced by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, who had hoped for completion by July 2024, during which time the Summer Olympics will be held in Paris.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
There are several reasons why the work will not be completed on schedule. The Covid-19 pandemic obviously stopped the work for a long time. The subsequent war that broke out in the Old Continent contributed to prolonging them further. But the main reason is that it was only necessary for two years to secure the structure, and allow workers to work safely.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
Before the fire that caused its closure, Notre-Dame Cathedral was the most visited monument in France with an average of 12 million people per year.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
Exactly 50 metres in front of the cathedral's main entrance is the 'point zéro', used as a reference point to calculate the distance between Paris and other cities in France.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
Among the latest perfectly restored works are the famous Gargoyles, the statues that act as guardians of the cathedral, but are also part of the water drainage system.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
According to a spokesman for the group of workers involved in the restoration, 'the stained glass windows are ready to travel to the French capital after Easter', after being restored in Germany. However, Barbara Schock-Werner, co-ordinator of the work in Cologne, was a little more open about the timeframe, speaking of the end of July as the most likely date.
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The Cathedral of Notre-Dame will reopen in December 2024
Inside the cathedral, there are a number of relics that fortunately survived the fire and represent some of the true wonders of Notre-Dame. The most famous relics are the crown of thorns and a piece of the cross and nail believed to have been used in the crucifixion of Christ.
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19/04/2024
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