STORY: :: November 19, 2024
:: Paris
:: Workers prepare for the Notre-Dame
cathedral’s grand reopening in early December
:: The building was gutted by a fire in 2019,
with over $580 mln since spent on repairs
The cathedral, built over nearly 200 years starting in the middle of the 12th century, is due to reopen on Dec. 8 with days of festivities after the fire that ravaged it on April 15, 2019.
Though French authorities have said an electrical fault or cigarette may have sparked the conflagration, it remains unclear exactly what caused it.
The facade of the building, which hulks over the Ile de la Cite island in the middle of the Seine river, held, but the damage has required years of work to stabilize and restore the edifice. About 500 workers have been racing to do so.
The official leading the project said in April that the project had cost 550 million euros ($580.36 million), funded in part by massive donations, including by luxury sector billionaires Francois Henri Pinault and the Arnault family. The cathedral has received so much funding that there will be money left over for further investment in the building.
