“French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife visited the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, which will be opened to visitors in a week after a fire and five-year reconstruction.”, — write: www.ukrinform.ua
“It (Notre-Dame de Paris – ed.) has been renovated, rethought and rebuilt at the same time,” Macron said, adding that the building looks “elevated.”
Archbishop Ulrich of Paris gave the head of state a tour of the cathedral. The vaults of the temple have become brighter, on the floor there are new black and white tiles.
The presidential couple inspected the new wooden frame that holds the nave and choirs of the building. According to the architects, 1,200 oaks specially selected from the forests were used for its construction.
All works were carried out in accordance with medieval technologies in order to preserve the Gothic pearl in its original form.
The public institution “Reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris” estimated that almost 2,000 people and 250 companies worked on the restoration of the cathedral in total. A total of 846 million euros of donations were collected to finance the works.
Macron will deliver his last presidential speech at the cathedral today. Separation of church and state obligates the president to no longer speak in the temple after the building is returned for worship. After discussions with the diocese, it was agreed that Macron would speak in the courtyard at the official opening.
Read also: During the excavations near Notre Dame, the coffin of the Renaissance poet was found Events on the occasion of the solemn opening of the cathedral will last two days – December 7 and 8.
As reported, on April 15, 2019, a fire broke out on the roof of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, which caused significant destruction. The main spire and two-thirds of the wooden roof were destroyed by fire.
The 12th century cathedral is considered one of the most visited monuments in the world. Before the fire, 12 million people visited there every year.
Photo in the text: BFMTV