The Notre-Dame Cathedral (Notre-Dame) reopened on Saturday, December 7, after a five-year restoration and recovery from the aftermath of a major fire that occurred there in April 2019, reports Tengri Life citing Deutsche Welle.
More than 40 heads of state and government gathered in the French capital for the ceremonial event, including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, elected U.S. President Donald Trump and his election campaign associate Elon Musk, Britain's Prince William, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Also present at the ceremony were former French presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy with their spouses, King Philippe of Belgium with his wife, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the presidents of Poland, Finland, and Georgia: Andrzej Duda, Alexander Stubb, and Salome Zourabichvili, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, two former French Prime Ministers Michel Barnier and Gabriel Attal, the outgoing Cabinet's Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, the High Commissioner for Planning François Bayrou, the chair of the Île-de-France region Valérie Pécresse, and the President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde.
Religious figures and major donors who contributed to the restoration were also invited to the ceremony. Among the latter were LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault, his son Antoine, and François-Henri Pinault, head of the Pinault-Printemps-Redoute group, along with his wife, actress Salma Hayek.
"The doors of the cathedral, ready to welcome worshippers again, were opened by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich. Before that, he knocked on them with his staff," the report states.
Celebrations marking the reopening of Notre-Dame will continue on Sunday, December 8. The live broadcast of the opening was covered by television and radio channels from more than 20 countries worldwide.
Notre-Dame de Paris reopens after a five-year restoration. Details of the ceremony — online at RFI https://t.co/IvEgjVBQ6X pic.twitter.com/jFlwiqRpUC
— RFI на русском (@RFI_Ru) December 7, 2024
The evening program included a film depicting the events following the fire and paying tribute to the rescuers and builders who restored the cathedral, as well as readings of poems by Louis Aragon and musical performances by the Capuçon brothers - violinist and cellist. Due to inclement weather, all performances were moved inside the cathedral.
"Firefighters and rescuers, as well as the builders who battled the flames in 2019 and dealt with the aftermath of the fire, were met with standing ovations at the opening ceremony," the DW article notes.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the opening ceremony of the cathedral and expressed gratitude to the French people for the reopening of Notre-Dame, restored after the devastating fire.
The first service following the reopening of the cathedral began after Emmanuel Macron's speech and lasted for 45 minutes.
On the eve of the ceremonial opening, journalists from the international French radio RFI met with those for whom the world-famous monument is an integral part of everyday life and the familiar landscape. Residents and workers in central Paris, who witnessed the fire in 2019 and the five-year restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris, shared their memories and hopes for the return to normal life.
Previously, we reported that the restoration of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was damaged by the fire in 2019, is nearing completion. The timeline of the restoration events is detailed in the article.