This weekend, Notre Dame Cathedral welcomed visitors once again after a painstaking five-year restoration that revived the iconic Parisian landmark. The reopening marked a triumphant return for the 861-year-old Gothic masterpiece, which had been ravaged by a devastating fire on April 15, 2019.
French president Emmanuel Macron, who pledged in 2019 to complete the restoration within five years, attended the reopening ceremony with guests including Donald Trump, Jill Biden, and Prince William of the U.K.
Speaking to a large crowd gathered inside the cathedral, Macron praised the artisans who brought the cathedral back to life. “You are the alchemists of this project, and you transformed coal into artistry,” he said.“The furnace of Notre Dame was a national scar, and you were its healing balm.”
For this ambitious project, around 2,000 craftspeople—carpenters, roofers, masons, and restorers—collaborated under the direction of chief architect Philippe Villeneuve. Many of the artisans were members of Les Compagnons du Devoir, a guild of skilled workers with roots in the Middle Ages. The restoration employed traditional materials and techniques, honoring the methods used in the 13th century.
Key achievements included the reconstruction of the 330-square-foot spire, faithfully replicated using 500 tons of oak and 250 tons of lead. The cathedral’s roof, supported by a new wooden lattice structure, was rebuilt using more than 1,500 oak trees sourced from French forests. The cathedral’s gleaming limestone walls had been scrubbed clean, removing both centuries-old grime and the residue of the 2019 fire.
Art restorers also revived 21 historic paintings and intricate frescoes within the chapels. This includes 13 of the 17th-century “Mays” paintings, named after the month they were offered to the cathedral by Paris’s goldsmith guild, and evacuated during the 2019 fire. The grand organ, which contains over 8,000 pipes, was carefully disassembled, cleaned, and returned—a process that took six months. The famous stained glass windows have been newly restored, sparkling despite the gray December weather. Minimal liturgical furnishings, made by French designer Guillaume Bardet (also exhibiting in a solo show at Paris’s Galerie kreo), have added a contemporary touch to the cathedral.
The restoration, funded by €846 million ($900 million) in donations from 340,000 donors across 150 countries, showed the impact of global solidarity on cultural heritage. Despite the reopening, additional restoration efforts will continue until 2028, focusing on facades, flying buttresses, and decorative sculptures.
Notre Dame is expected to draw 15 million visitors annually, reaffirming its status as a major tourist destination.
