IN PICTURES: Notre Dame Cathedral unveils its new interior five years after devastating fire
After more than five years of frenetic reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed its new self to the world on November 29, 2024, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019.
Images broadcast live of a site visit by French President Emmanuel Macron showed the inside of the iconic cathedral as worshippers might have experienced it back in medieval times, its wide, open spaces filled with bright light on a crisp and sunny winter's day that lit up the vibrant colors of the stained glass windows.
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 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.
The South Rose stainglass window of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral is seen here.
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.
Macron's visit kicked off a series of events ushering in the reopening of the 12th-century Gothic masterpiece.
Macron will return on December 7 to deliver an address and attend the consecration of the new altar during a solemn Mass the following day.
Macron's administration is hailing the reconstruction as a symbol of national unity and French can-do.
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
