12/05/2024
The Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris will be reopening on 8 December 2024, five years after a horrific fire in April
of 2019. It will reopen to the public after two initial masses are held. The French chose to rebuild the cathedral
back to its original design using the same original materials from the beginning of its construction in the
12th century, while making the structure more durable. As detailed in a previous post, the church has been rebuilt using lumber from the same forest and stone from
the same quarries as was used in the original construction. The spire has been rebuilt using the same, original
primitive truss designs from the 19th century when it was added to the 1 4th-century-built main structure.
Preventive measures such as a sprinkler system and
fireproof partitions above the vaulted ceilings have been added to avoid another disastrous fire.
In addition, the stained glass and murals had to be carefully cleaned before they could be restored. Of eight
finalists, one French artist will be chosen to create new stained-glass designs which will be included in several
chapels. The murals in the many chapels within the church had not had the paint re-touched since the 1850's.
The result of this methodical restoration is that the interior of the cathedral is now bright with various colors
bouncing from windows across stone, from ceiling to floor, and the colors of the paintings and stained glass
found closer to eye-level really pop.
