Inside Notre Dame, Paris’ Gothic gem, as it reopens to the world

After a herculean, 2,000-plus day effort involving more than 2,000 workers, “Our Lady of Paris” was ready to welcome visitors before the close of 2024.

Paris (CNN) — Five years after it was nearly destroyed in a devastating fire, Notre Dame de Paris formally reopened on Saturday with a two-hour ceremony inside the famed cathedral’s gleaming, newly renovated interior.

Global leaders and dignitaries including US President-elect Donald Trump, current US first lady Jill Biden, Elon Musk — the world’s richest man — and Britain’s Prince William joined French President Emmanuel Macron in a celebration that fused Catholic tradition with a dash of history and politics.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who attended last-minute and met with Trump and Macron at the Elysee palace earlier in the day, was welcomed to the church with a standing ovation.

Some 170 bishops from around the world and priests from each of the 106 parishes in the Paris diocese were involved in the festivities, but Pope Francis did not attend. The pontiff instead sent a message, describing the cathedral’s reopening as a moment of “joy, celebration, and praise.”

Inclement weather forced organizers to move the beginning of the service, which was supposed to take place on the redesigned forecourt in front of the cathedral, inside, where it was sheltered from the rain and the howls of nearly 40 mile-per-hour winds whipping against the building’s exterior.

For the hundreds in attendance, the main show was not just in front of them, but all around.

It was their first look inside the cherished UNESCO world heritage site following an estimated €700 million ($739 million) restoration. Centuries of grime has been wiped away to reveal an immaculate but aesthetically dissonant house of worship: a Gothic church that glistens.

“The world will find again this cathedral rebuilt and embellished,” Macron said. “Tonight, together, we can share joy and pride.”

The French president, who is mired in a political crisis following his government’s collapse on Wednesday, attempted to use the global spotlight on his country to showcase French soft power while also stoking pride and patriotism at home, as he did during the Paris Olympics.

“We rediscovered what great nations can do: accomplish the impossible,” Macron told the more than 2,000-strong congregation.

“The cathedral became a beautiful metaphor for what a nation is, and what the world should be,” he added.

And like the Summer Games’ opening ceremony, a wet and windy central Paris felt once again as if it was on lockdown.

French authorities brought in an extra 6,000 security officers for the event and closed Ile de la Cite, the island in the Seine River where Notre Dame is located, to everyone except residents, law enforcement and attendees.

Saturday’s ceremony kicked off with the tolling of Notre Dame’s bells, located in the cathedral’s tower where Victor Hugo’s hunchbacked bell ringer Quasimodo lived in 1831 novel.

Dozens of bishops gathered outside, their white robes whipping in the wind as Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich struck the closed cathedral doors with his crozier, an ornate staff, to officially mark the cathedral’s reopening.

Through the doorframe, onlookers saw floodlights beam onto the downpour, providing a cinematic backdrop for Notre Dame’s spiritual leader as he led his clergy in from the cold for the first time since the blaze on April 15, 2019, after what investigators believe was an accident.

By the time some 600 firefighters had doused the fire’s final flames, much of Notre Dame, a jewel of Gothic architecture, lay in ruins. The 315-foot spire that had graced the Parisian skyline since 1859 collapsed through the lead roof. “The forest,” an intricate, wooden lattice structure under the lead roof dating back to the 13th century, was completely destroyed. Centuries-old murals and priceless artifacts were covered in soot and lead.

Macron had pledged to rebuild, asking that it be done in five years – an ambitious deadline that some experts panned as unrealistic.

Yet after a herculean, 2,000-plus day effort involving more than 2,000 workers, “Our Lady of Paris” was ready to welcome visitors before the close of 2024.

The world got its first glimpse inside on November 29, when cameras followed Macron on his seventh and final visit to the construction site. There he met with various artisans and expressed his gratitude to the 1,000-plus craftspeople in attendance who helped him keep his promise.

Organizers used Saturday’s ceremony to honor many of the firefighters who responded to the blaze. Dozens were paraded through the nave as guests applauded. Later, the cathedral’s grand organ – France’s largest instrument complete with its 8,000 pipes and five keyboards – was played once more.

Following the ceremony, Macron hosted a dinner at the Elysee palace for the 50 or so heads of state and government in attendance.

While Saturday’s events marked Notre Dame’s official reopening, the inaugural mass will take place Sunday morning. Masses will be held twice daily for eight days, along with special evening ceremonies. Many of these events will be open to the public but may require reservations in advance.

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