President Macron visits Notre Dame cathedral five years after the blaze

Notre Dame Cathedral reopened to the world on Friday after more than five years of hectic, but occasionally interrupted, rebuilding work. The cathedral's restored towering ceilings and creamy, like-new brickwork erased the gloomy memory of its tragic fire in 2019.

When Emmanuel Macron announced the impending reopening of the ancient cathedral with a televised walking tour, he declared that the world will receive a "shock of hope" from the repair of Paris's Notre Dame, which was partially destroyed by fire five years ago.

Philippe Villeneuve, the principal architect of France's national monuments, gave the French president a tour of the restored medieval cathedral on Friday morning, accompanied by his wife Brigitte and the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.

“You’ve achieved what was said to be impossible,” Mr. Macron told an assembly of over half of the 2,000 workers and craftsmen from around France — and beyond — who contributed to the cathedral’s reconstruction.

Mr. Macron was joined by representatives of the fund-raising foundations and some of the main sponsors who contributed to the roughly $900 million raised for the monument's restoration.

Mr. Macron stated that the reopening next week will be "a jolt of hope" in the middle nave of the church. In an occasionally tearful address, he commended the artistry and paid homage to Jean-Louis Georgelin, the French general who oversaw the restoration project until his death last year.

The lead covering, which rose in poisonous smoke, and Notre-Dame's timber roofing, which was made of a lattice of old medieval beams known as "the forest," were totally burned in the fire that broke out in April 2019.

The 19th-century extension to the cathedral, the spire, smashed through the vaults and hurled burned rubble into the earth below. Firefighters used water to put out the fire, soaking the cathedral. Gables threatened to collapse.

“The damage was indeed considerable,” Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect in charge of Notre-Dame’s reconstruction, told Mr. Macron as he showed him before and after pictures of the cathedral’s interior. However, Mr. Villeneuve claimed that the monument's other features, such as the large organ and its recognizable stained glass windows, were "miraculously protected."

“There was hope,” he added. “That’s when I thought that the five-year deadline — which was an obsession for all of us from the beginning — seemed feasible to me.”

On December 7, the cathedral will formally reopen to the public. Following a series of Masses, concerts, and other festivities, the cathedral will reopen with a ceremonial ceremony that will be televised globally and attended by international authorities.

About 12 million people visited Notre Dame annually prior to the fire. Following the reopening, more people are anticipated to visit. The cathedral will still be free to enter, but guests will need to reserve a specific time window via an online ticketing system that will go live in early December.