In one month's time, Notre Dame will once again welcome visitors and pilgrims after a sometimes challenging restoration to return the great Parisian cathedral to its former glory. It suffered serious damage from a devastating fire in 2019.
On the evening of April 19, 2019, Parisians and the world watched in horror as flames ravaged the World Heritage monument and then collapsed its tower, AFP reported.
To some at the time, the apocalyptic images of the fire seemed like the end of Notre Dame's nearly 850-year history, or even a symbol of the collapse of Western civilization itself.
But declaring France a "nation of builders," President Emmanuel Macron set himself the ambitious goal of rebuilding Notre Dame within five years and making it "even more beautiful" than before.
French authorities are happy that the promise has largely been kept. Ceremonies to mark the reopening will take place over the weekend of 7 to 8 December, though not in time for the world to share the moment during this summer's Olympic Games in Paris.
Some 250 companies and hundreds of experts have been mobilised for the restoration, costing hundreds of millions of euros, as part of the project. It has been dubbed "the construction site of the century". | BGNES
