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Notre Dame Cathedral unveils its new interior 5 years after devastating fire

A view inside Notre Dame Cathedral of its vaulted ceiling
Notre Dame Cathedral’s limestone walls look brand new, cleaned not only of dust from the devastating 2019 fire but also of grime that had accumulated for centuries.
(Stephane de Sakutin / Associated Press)
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After more than five years of frenetic, but sometimes interrupted, reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed itself anew to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and bright stonework softening somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019.

The South Rose stained glass window
Notre Dame Cathedral’s South Rose stained glass window.
(Stephane de Sakutin / Associated Press)

Images broadcast live of a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron showed the inside of the iconic cathedral as worshipers might have experienced it in previous centuries, its wide, open spaces filled with bright light on a crisp and sunny winter’s day that illuminated the vibrant colors of the stained glass windows.

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Outside, the monument is still a construction site, with scaffolding and cranes. But the renovated interior — shown Friday for the first time before the public is allowed back in on Dec. 8 — proved to be breathtaking.

Stonemasons repaired damaged ceilings

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. Golden angels look on from the centerpiece of one of the rebuilt ceilings, seeming to fly 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 worshipers 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 mobilized for the reconstruction.

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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.

Techniques new and old deployed

Powerful vacuum cleaners were used to first remove toxic dust released when the fire melted the cathedral’s lead roofs.

Scupltures and a cross in the tabernacle of a 12th-century Gothic cathedral
The tabernacle of the 12th century Gothic cathedral.
(Stephane de Sakutin / Associated Press)

Fine layers of latex were then sprayed onto the surfaces and removed a few days later, taking dirt away with them from the stones’ pores, nooks and crevices. In all, 42,000 square meters of stonework were cleaned and decontaminated — an area equivalent to roughly six soccer pitches.

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“It feels like it was built yesterday, like it’s just been born, even though Notre Dame is very old,” said stonemason Adrien Willeme, who worked on the reconstruction. “Because it’s been so carefully restored and cleaned, it looks really extraordinary.”

Cleaning gels were also used on some walls that had been painted, removing many years of accumulated dirt and revealing their bright colors once again.

Carpenters worked by hand like their medieval counterparts as they hewed giant oak beams to rebuild the roof and spire that collapsed into the inferno. The beams show the marks of the carpenters’ handiwork, with dents made on the woodwork by their hand axes.

People look at massive beams in restored interiors of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
French President Emmanuel Macron, center, and wife Brigitte visit Notre Dame’s restored interior. Carpenters had worked by hand on giant oak beams to rebuild the roof.
(Christophe Petit Tesson / Associated Press)

Some 2,000 oak trees were felled to rebuild roof frameworks so dense and intricate that they are nicknamed “the forest.”

It’s a sneak peek ahead of the reopening

Macron’s visit kicked off a series of events ushering in the reopening of the 12th century Gothic masterpiece. At the end of his tour, the president addressed hundreds of workers gathered inside the cathedral and thanked them for their labors on what he called the “building site of the century.”

“The shock of the reopening will, I want to believe, be as powerful as the one of the fire. But it will be a shock of hope,” he said. “The inferno of Notre Dame was a wound for the nation. And you were its remedy.”

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Macron will return Dec. 7 to deliver another address and will attend the consecration of the new altar during a Mass the following day.

Adamson and Leicester write for the Associated Press. AP video journalist Marine Lesprit contributed to this report.

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