The bells of Notre-Dame have tolled for the first time since fire devastated the cathedral in April 2019, signalling the countdown to the monument’s much-anticipated reopening on 8th December — and to one of Paris’s most magical festive seasons in recent times. The official opening ceremony (7th December) will be globally broadcast, but if you plan on visiting Notre-Dame in person, here’s what you need to know …
You’ll be able to book your access slot a day or two in advance, either through the cathedral’s website or via a soon-to-be-released app that has been designed to direct and enhance visits. If you’re not that organised, or prefer your Parisian days to be guided by spontaneity, you’ll still be able to visit the cathedral, but might have to wait in a queue for your turn. Despite recent headlines in the media, it does not seem that there will be an entry fee.
Just as the cathedral’s exterior has been cleaned and brightened, the interior has also been polished for a luminous effect, one that is enhanced by new-look furniture. The 1,500 new chairs, for example, are lighter in hue than their predecessors, having been made from solid oak in Sologne. Their modern form is echoed in other liturgical furnishings; the altar, baptistery, ambo, cathedra, and tabernacle were sculpted from bronze at the Barthélemy Art foundry in the Drôme, by Parisian artist Guillaume Bardet — it’s the first time this metal has been used for Notre-Dame. And, for a finishing golden touch: the sacred vessels are the work of Parisian goldsmith workshop, Marischaël Orfèvre.
Perhaps the most modern addition is the four-metre-high reliquary for the crown of thorns (above). This precious relic will be at the centre of a halo of glass pebbles, which are embedded in a cedar-wood panel. On one side, candles can be placed on the Carrara marble altar of repose; on the other side of the shrine, pilgrims can kneel and pray.
The restoration work won’t be fully completed by December. Over the next two years, the cathedral’s new-look chevet and sacristy are to be unveiled, and new stained-glass windows will be installed on the south aisle of the nave. (There has, however, been controversy about President Emmanuel Macron’s plan, which will have the current nineteenth-century windows replaced by contemporary designs.)
And 2027 will see the completion of landscaping around the monument and its forecourt, which will effectively create a gorgeous new city park.
Some exterior scaffolding will remain for the time being, and there is still no word on when the tower climbs will resume.