Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral to reopen in December 2024
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The reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is progressing quickly enough that it will reopen to visitors at the end of 2024, less than six years after a fire destroyed its roof, as per French officials.
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A worker during the restoration process which started in 2020. (AP)
The official website of the Paris Tourism Office revealed that the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will reopen to the public in December 2024, five years after a massive fire devastated the landmark in 2019. The distinctive spire of the cathedral collapsed in the fire and has been a primary focus of the repair work.
"The supervision of the restoration is entrusted to the architect Philippe Villeneuve," said the Paris Tourist Office, stressing that "the general principle is to rebuild the cathedral identically, including the spire."
"The return of the spire in Paris' sky will in my opinion be the symbol that we are winning the battle of Notre Dame," Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, the army general in charge of the restoration project, said as quoted by The Associated Press.
The renovations began last year. On April 15, 2024, exactly five years after the fire, a service will be held.
The parvis — the public space outside the cathedral — and the cathedral's crypt have both been open to visitors since May 2020. In September 2022, the footbridge reopened to walkers and bikes.
On Tuesday, a free exhibition titled "Notre-Dame de Paris: At the Heart of the Construction Site" will open to the public, highlighting the reconstruction.
