Take a look inside Notre-Dame Cathedral in these breathtaking images of the newly unveiled interior

Sarah Kuta

Daily correspondent

Five years ago, the world watched in horror as smoke billowed from the top of the famous French tower Notre-Dame Cathedral. Firefighters rushed to the historic church on the evening of April 15, 2019 and worked through the night to battle the blaze. They were able to save most of the structure, but the wooden roof and iconic spire of Notre Dame collapsed.

Now, after extensive restoration and reconstruction work, Notre-Dame is finally ready to reopen its doors.

The church will do that officially opened on December 8 to the public. But in the meantime, French President Emmanuel Macron has given a sneak peek at the newly rebuilt cathedral.

On November 29, Macron took a televised walking tour of Notre-Dame led by Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect of France’s national monuments. New York Times‘Aurelien Breeden. Photojournalists were also allowed to take part in the tour and their images revealed the cathedral’s dazzling new interior.

Macron expressed his gratitude and appreciation to a group of more than 1,000 professionals who worked on the project for their painstaking efforts, reports ReutersElizabeth Pineau and Michaela Cabrera. He also thanked the firefighters who saved the burning building, as well as the donors who helped raise more than $800 million to fund the restoration.

“The fire at Notre Dame was a national wound, and you were the cure,” he said, as reported by the Guardianby Philip Oltermann.

He added: “The shock of the reopening will be as great as that of the fire, but it will be a shock of hope.”

Work on the outside is still ongoing, with cranes and scaffolding surrounding the monument in the French capital’s Fourth Arrondissement. But inside the cathedral is bright and clean, without any trace of the devastating disaster that left the cathedral in ruins.

After the fire, crews removed piles of charred debris that had fallen into the nave and near the altar. They then used electric vacuum cleaners to remove toxic lead dust from the melted roof.

Then they sprayed a thin layer of it latex cleaning paste on the interior walls and pillars. A few days later, they peeled off the latex, removing decades of built-up dust and dirt. They also used cleaning gels to brighten painted walls.

Meanwhile, carpenters hand-hewn oak beams to rebuild the roof and spire, just as their medieval predecessors did. Hundreds of centuries-old oak trees were cut down for the reconstruction.

Craftsmen also repaired holes in the ceiling, laid new brickwork, restored 17th-century oil paintings, cleaned smoke damage stained glass windows and renovated the large organ. Experts have restored the eight historic bells in the cathedral’s north tower and installed three new bells, including one that was rung by gold medalists during the Summer Olympics in Paris.

“It feels like it was built yesterday, like it was just born, even though Notre-Dame is very old,” says Adrien Willeme, a stonemason who worked on the cathedral. Associated press‘Thomas Adamson and John Leicester. “Because it has been so carefully restored and cleaned, it really looks special.”

Investigators still have not identified the cause of the fire, reports Agence France-Presse. The leading theory is that the fire was accidental, possibly the result of an unextinguished cigarette butt or an electrical problem.

Once the cathedral reopens, visitors will need to reserve a specific entry time, but admission will remain free. Reservations will be available in early December on Notre-Dame’s website and via a soon-to-be-released mobile app. Guests can show up without a reservation, but may experience long wait times, reports the Times“Lindsey Tramuta. Only 2,700 visitors are allowed in at a time. Free guided tours of the cathedral’s exterior are also available.

Before the fire, Notre Dame was more than welcoming 12 million visitors per year – and that number is expected to increase after it reopens.