PARIS – Two years after the Notre-Dame fire, Emmanuel Macron returned to the cathedral. The last time was on the night of April 15, 2019 when the fire was devouring the monument and the head of state had rushed to the fire brigade command center to follow the battle against the flames live. During his visit to the reconstruction site, wearing a white helmet, a gray overalls and a mask, Macron climbed up to the roof, 47 meters high, in dialogue with the various managers. Standing on a platform surrounding the chasm caused by the collapse of the spire, the leader closely observed the technicians hanging from the ropes who are still working to reinforce the structure while immense scaffolding was built inside the cathedral that will allow the real start. and own reconstruction phase.
From fire to steel, in Notre-Dame it is the hour of the resurrection
by our correspondent Anais Ginori
In an interview published this morning in the newspaper The Parisian, Macron drew a parallel between the construction of the cathedral and the mobilization against Covid: “We will hold up and rebuild”, he assured, underlining that “these great challenges remind us that we are a living nation that always has things to rebuild and do” . Macron recalled “the ability of the French people to unite, overcome each other, when the worst happens”.
The leader thanked “all those who are working on its reconstruction”, a long list of trades: carpenters, scaffolders, rope access technicians, crane operators, organ builders, glass masters, painters and sculptors, stonecutters, archaeologists and researchers . Another thanks went to all those who helped save the cathedral from the flames, the heroic firefighters, especially those who climbed into the Towers, thus managing to stop the line of fire and save the cathedral. Finally, Macron recalled the extraordinary momentum of solidarity in the world for the gothic jewel of the Ville Lumière: 340 thousand donors who brought the fundraising up to 833 million euros.
Shortly after the tragedy, the head of state announced that he wanted it to be rebuilt in five years, in time for the 2024 Olympic Games scheduled in the capital. Last year, in a video message, he reiterated this promise despite the site being shut down during the first containment due to the pandemic. And yesterday he reaffirmed the commitment to respect the calendar. General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who leads the reconstruction work, has stated that by 2024 it will be possible to return to celebrate mass inside the cathedral but the whole construction site will not yet be completed.
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