Inside the $760m restoration of Notre Dame cathedral

The spire of Notre Dame, crowned by a brand new golden rooster, regained its place in the Paris skyline last week.

As tourists and Parisians gathered outside the UNESCO-listed cathedral to admire the return of one of its most emblematic features — for now, still encased in scaffolding — the Notre Dame worksite remained in full swing. Nearly 500 craftspeople are busy with rebuilding efforts, working to ensure the Parisian landmark is ready for its grand reopening to the public less than a year from now.

“It’s fascinating to see how something of such historical value is being restored,” said Stephan Book, a tourist visiting Paris from Sweden with his daughter and 80-year-old father. “And the ambition to do it all in five years,” he added, “It’s like when Kennedy said (humans) were going to the moon.”

On a recent visit to the construction site, President Emmanuel Macron promisedworks were “on schedule” for Notre Dame to open to the public on December 8, 2024, five years and seven months after the fire that destroyed large parts of the 860-year-old building in April 2019.

Already, those admiring the gothic structure from the outside are excited by the prospect of being able to re-enter the cathedral.

The cathedral spire’s previous rooster had been found, damaged among the rubble, the day after the fire. Inside it were the relics (the mortal remains) of Saint Denis and Saint Geneviève, as well as a fragment of Christ’s crown of thorns, all of which remained intact and have now been placed inside the new rooster, according to the Diocese of Paris.

The old rooster — alongside the six stained glass windows set to be replaced — will be housed in a new museum dedicated to Notre Dame, the opening of which was announced recently by Macron. “It will be a museum of art, a museum of history, a museum to describe the permanent construction site of Notre Dame de Paris,” he said.

The cost of rebuilding Notre Dame is expected to be approximately 700 million euros ($767m US dollars). In total, 846 million euros ($928m US dollars) were raised in donations from 340,000 donors in 150 countries, according to Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris.

Jost has said that any donated money that isn’t spent on the reconstruction will likely be used to “benefit the cathedral” in other ways.