Notre-Dame, two years after the fire | President…

The reconstruction of Our–Lady It will not be completed for five years, as was planned at the start of the restoration work on the Parisian cathedral, said Jean-Louis Georgelin, president of the public body in charge of its reconstruction. However, he noted, a first mass can take place in 2024. The announcement was made shortly before French President Emmanuel Macron visited the building on Thursday, when the president applauded the efforts being made in the reconstruction, on the second anniversary of the blaze that took destroyed part of the historic building.

“A huge job has been done” in two years, Macron said on his first visit to the cathedral after the destruction, expressing his “collective pride” in seeing the “Grande Dame” slowly regaining her shape after the fire of April 15, 2019. “We also have to look at the next three years, because we have to maintain our goals, for which a very demanding and rigorous planning effort is necessary,” Macron added, revealing that thirty-five companies are participating in the work. “It is a message of collective pride, because we have done a lot in two years and we have avoided the worst. That is why my immense gratitude goes to those who mobilized by the thousands to collaborate,” he said. insisted.

As soon as the tragedy occurred, Macron set himself the goal of rebuilding the cathedral in five years. A year later, he upheld his promise, despite the work stopping during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Even if the temple lost its spire, roof, clock and part of its vault, the work of the firefighters ensured that the large medieval building did not collapse.

The consolidation phase of Notre-Dame will be completed during the French summer, a necessary condition to launch its reconstruction.

Yes thousands of oaks were cut in France and are drying up to rebuild the spire, its apron and the transept. And inside the cathedral, there is a forest of scaffolding, nets and tarpaulins where carpenters and technicians work. The cutting of centennial (and in some cases, bicentennial) trees in March of last year sparked protests from environmental groups and the presentation of petitions to end what they called ” ecocide ”. The authorities replied that these specimens (some dating from the time of the Revolution) would have been cut down anyway, since each year the oldest trees are felled in the forests to make room for the younger ones.

This European summer will have to complete the first phase of the work, which will give rise to the start of the restoration itself. Por el momento, between otros advances, ya se ha hecho la selección y tala de los 1.000 robles cuya madera se usará para reconstruir el armazón del transepto y la aguja, destruidos en el incendio, que serán fieles, pero no idénticos a los destruidos en the fire.

“From now on, my concern is to obtain rigorous planning to chart the course for reopening to worship in 2024,” said General Jean-Louis Georgelin, coordinator of the work, in a video on the restoration broadcast on social networks.

Georgelin specified that the restoration work would begin “at the end of the year”, once the consolidation work is completed (in summer) or, and assumed the goal of reopening the cathedral in 2024 for visits and services. religious. “This does not mean that everything will be finished”, since the work will have to continue, he underlined in an interview with the station France Inter.

Thus, if the interior will have all “practically finished” by 2024, and for example the great organ will have been reassembled – it will take six months to be granted – the restoration of the chapels will not have been completed.

The general, in any case, puts this into perspective by recalling that “the first stone of Notre-Dame was laid in 1163. The cathedral has been under construction since 1163”.

For now, it looks like the planned deadlines can be met, although the monetary factor could also work against Macron’s plans. So far, donations worth 833 million euros have been collected, but they may not be enough.

However, it seems difficult that French institutions cannot find a way to finance the work that will restore shine to one of the nation’s greatest symbols.

Two years after the incident, the riddle of its origin remains unsolved. There is very little information available on the progress of the investigations. However, a source close to the investigation, who requested anonymity, told AFP that the “on-site” investigations are already “completed”.

In June 2019, at the end of the preliminary investigation, the Paris prosecutor’s office indicated that it was most likely an accident. “For the moment, we maintain the same thesis, that of the badly extinguished butt or the short-circuit”, added the same source.