Notre-Dame prepares to reopen five years after fire that nearly destroyed it

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A discarded cigarette: what a perfectly French way to destroy centuries of French history. But Notre Dame was restored at staggering expense—the BBC reports €700m (about $750m) was spent—after the 2019 fire that toppled its famous spire. And it will soon re-open to the public.

The president – accompanied by his wife Brigitte and Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich – is kicking off a programme of ceremonies that will culminate with an official "entry" into the cathedral on 7 December and the first Catholic Mass the next day. On entering the refurbished cathedral, Macron said it was now "repaired, reinvented and rebuilt."
"It is sublime," he said.

Destroyed were the spire, the wooden roof and its "forest" of ancient beams, and the stone vaulting sent crashing into the structure's interior as it all burned away. 600 firefighters doused the blaze, 1300 people worked on the restoration, and the new interior is a closely-guarded secret. French President Emmanual Macron made a "rash" promise to re-open the cathedral within five years and very nearly managed it.

Photos: Levrier, Guillaume (CC BY 4.0), Cangadoba (CC BY-SA 4.0)