Notre-Dame de Paris finds its bedside cross

“It is a very beautiful day for us to say that there is (...) the cross above the bedside, which will signify to all those who pass that it is a place of worship, of love , fraternity and peace", rejoiced Olivier Ribadeau-Dumas, archpriest of Notre-Dame.

Recently restored by artistic ironworkers in Normandy, the apse cross is the only element of the choir roof which had resisted the flames.

An imposing work, with a span of 12 meters and a weight of 1,5 tonnes, it was raised before being delicately replaced at the top of the cathedral's framework.

Some 250 companies and hundreds of craftsmen, architects and professionals worked on this extraordinary project to allow the reopening of the masterpiece of Gothic art, still scheduled for December 8, 2024.

On April 15, 2019, a gigantic fire ravaged the cathedral, a symbol of Christianity listed as a UNESCO world heritage site which welcomed 12 million visitors each year. It had caused the collapse of its spire and the partial collapse of its roof, ravaged by flames.

Five years after the fire, the main challenges posed by its restoration have been met, like its spire whose needle covered in its lead cover once again points into the sky.