Five years after a fire devastated the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, the world got a first glimpse inside the historic French landmark as President Emmanuel Macron conducted a tour of the restored monument Friday, reports FRANCE 24.
On November 29, eight days before its official reopening, Macron is bringing the world with him inside the renewed and repaired Notre-Dame on a two-hour televised inspection tour. It is the first time that the reconstruction work is being shown to the public.
When the 12th-century Gothic masterpiece burned down in 2019, Macron promised not only to rebuild it within five years, but to make it “even more beautiful” than before, a target that the French authorities now say has been met.
Some 250 companies and hundreds of experts were mobilised for a restoration costing €700 million in pure donations in what was dubbed the “building site of the century”.
All 2,000 people who contributed to the work have been invited to Friday’s event, of whom at least 1,300 are expected to attend.
See more of this report, with video of the restored cathedral, from FRANCE 24.