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With just days to go before its reopening, Notre Dame of Paris has revealed its new-found splendor to the world. Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris and French president Emmanuel Macron made a final site visit on Friday, November 29. For the first time, the cameras were able to film the interior of the building without its scaffolding. And the result is incredible.
Images revealed the new altar, the Virgin of the Pillar, the nave, the baptistery, and the roof structure.
It’s the first time the public has been able to see Notre Dame of Paris so immaculately restored.
Experts also cleaned the cathedral’s largest organ, undamaged by fire or water. Now reinstalled and in the process of being tuned, the organ will officially return to service on December 7, 2024, the day Notre Dame reopens, during an exchange between the instrument and the archbishop known as the “awakening of the organ.”
The cathedral is exultant, gently imposing with a majesty perhaps never seen before. With the naturally light color of the stone, the shimmer of the stained glass, and the vastness of the nave — which seems to open its arms wide in anticipation of finding its children — Notre Dame is ready to welcome the faithful back on December 8.
And today we celebrate...