PARIS: France on Saturday prepared to throw open the doors of the capital’s Notre Dame cathedral after a half-decade closure, in a ceremony attended by dozens of world leaders celebrating the rebirth of the Paris landmark ravaged by a devastating fire.
Held up as an example of French creativity and resilience by President Emmanuel Macron, Notre Dame’s renaissance so soon after a 2019 blaze that destroyed its roof and spire comes at a difficult time for the country.
The re-opening will officially take place when archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich opens the doors to the cathedral at 1800 GMT, by knocking three times, to herald the start of the almost two-hour ceremony.
Macron has scored a major coup by attracting US president-elect Donald Trump, on his first foreign trip since his election, for the ceremony along with some 40 other leaders, including Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and the UK’s heir to the throne, Prince William.
It is “a cathedral like we have never seen before,” Philippe Jost, the head of the restoration project, told Franceinfo radio, saying he was proud to “show the whole world” a “great collective success and a source of pride for all of France”.
In one last-minute hitch, harsh weather forced officials to move Macron’s planned speech indoors and pre-record a concert planned for after the ceremony, with forecasts for winds of up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour.
The service will feature prayer, organ music and hymns from the cathedral’s choir, followed by the televised concert — pre-recorded Friday night due to the weather — with performances by Chinese piano virtuoso Lang Lang, South African opera singer Pretty Yende and an orchestra conducted by Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel.
US singer and fashion designer Pharrell Williams is also believed to have taken part.
The sense of national accomplishment in restoring a beloved symbol of Paris has been undercut by political turmoil that has left France without a proper government and in a budget crisis.
Macron is hoping the re-opening might provide a fleeting sense of pride and unity — as the Paris Olympics did in July and August.
The scale of the immense security operation also recalls the Olympics — with some 6,000 police officers and gendarmes mobilised.
The re-opening “is the proof that we know how to do grand things, we know how to do the impossible” Macron said Thursday.
However, he somewhat undermined the suspense behind the re-opening, revealing the cathedral’s freshly scrubbed limestone walls, new furniture and vaulted wooden roof cut from ancient oak trees selected from the finest forests of France.
The reconstruction effort has cost around 700 million euros ($750 million), financed from donations, with the re-opening achieved within five years despite predictions it could take decades.
“This state-of-the-art restoration, the fruit of a worldwide collective effort and the use of many traditional French skills, has enabled this masterpiece to regain all its splendour,” said Audrey Azoulay, the head of the UN cultural agency UNESCO, describing the work as “dazzling”.
Trump accepted an invitation from Macron to attend earlier this week, saying the French leader had done “a wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so.” Travelling on a private plane, he landed at Orly airport in the south of Paris Saturday morning, followed by Zelensky a few hours later. US President Joe Biden will be represented by his wife, Jill.
One surprising absentee will be Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, who is instead visiting the French island of Corsica. A message from Francis addressed to the French people will be read out to the congregation.
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