Like Lazarus the seemingly dead remains of the revered Notre Dame Cathedral have been brought back to life after a horrendous fire decimated the ancient building five years ago.
More than £700 million, €846 million, has been spent on a stunning restoration which has been revealed to the world for the first time today (Friday).
Beleaguered French President Emmanuel Macron took time away from his disastrous performance politically to basque in the holy glow of hours of painstaking renovation work which appear to have brought the 860-year-old cathedral back from the ashes.
Notre Dame holds a special place in the hearts of the French people, and like St Paul’s Cathedreal for the British, the Norman splendour of the place of worship has often witnessed some of France’s greatest and darkest times.
Images broadcast live from the site today showed huge crowds milling inside the now gleaming interior of the cathedral which had been charred and blackened by the devastating fire in 2019.
Outside, the monument is still a construction site, with scaffolding and cranes. But the renovated interior, shown in its full glory for the first time before the public is officially allowed back in on December 8, proved to be breathtaking.
Gone are the gaping holes that the blaze tore into the vaulted ceilings, leaving charred piles of debris. New stonework has been carefully pieced together to repair and fill the wounds that had left the cathedral’s insides exposed to the elements.
Delicate golden angels look on from the centerpiece of one of the rebuilt ceilings, soaring again above the transept.
The cathedral’s bright, cream-colored limestone walls look brand new, cleaned not only of dust from the fire but also of grime that had accumulated for centuries.
The cathedral attracted millions of worshippers and visitors annually before the April 15, 2019, fire forced its closure and turned the monument in the heart of Paris into a no-go zone except to artisans, architects and others mobilised for the reconstruction.
President Macron entered via the cathedral’s giant and intricately carved front doors and stared up at the ceilings in wonder. He was accompanied by his wife, Brigitte, the archbishop of Paris and others.
Powerful vacuum cleaners were used to first remove toxic dust released when the fire melted the cathedral’s lead roofs.
Fine layers of latex were then sprayed onto the surfaces and removed a few days later, taking dirt away with them. Cleaning gels were also used on some walls that had been painted, removing many years of accumulated dirt and revealing their bright colours once again.
Carpenters worked by hand like their medieval counterparts as they hewed giant oak beams to rebuild the roof and spire that collapsed like a flaming spear into the inferno. The beams show the marks of the carpenters’ handiwork, with dents made on the woodwork by their hand axes.
Some 2,000 oak trees were felled to rebuild roof frameworks so dense and intricate that they are nicknamed “the forest.”