Soon a virtual tour of Notre-Dame under the cathedral square

In this underground parking lot, unexploited since the fire, and which should eventually become a place of reception for visitors to the restored cathedral, Amaclio Productions, specializing in the creation of multimedia shows enhancing the heritage, will offer a tour of 40-45 minutes.

The visit will cost 30 euros full price, Amaclio told AFP, specifying that 30% of the turnover will be donated to the reconstruction of the cathedral.

Equipped with a helmet and "guided by a virtual companion builder", visitors "will believe they are moving in the building and its surroundings, at different periods of its history", explains the town hall in its draft deliberation.

The public domain occupancy agreement, valid until the end of 2024, aims to "bring the spirit of the places linked to Notre-Dame to life during the works", underlined Carine Rolland, deputy PS for the culture of the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.

This project was preferred to that of Kléber-Rossillon, a manager of cultural sites who proposed an "underground reconstruction of the square and of the cathedral district before the demolitions of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries" with "a sound and light show" .

The ecologists, Parisian allies of Mrs. Hidalgo, abstained, criticizing by the voice of Corine Faugeron a procedure "without call for tenders or jury", reducing themselves to "the drafting of a deliberation where the choice is reduced to for, against or abstention ".

Having received a spontaneous expression of interest from Amaclio at the start of the year, "the city opened a call for candidates" when "it was absolutely not compulsory", replied Carine Rolland.

Boris Jamet-Fournier, advisor (PS and related) of Paris Center, defended the choice of a project "more solid" because "more immersive", "easier to carry out" with "less important transformations" and "less risky " on the financial plan.

Amaclio will indeed pay a fixed annual fee of 50.000 euros, "more reassuring for the City" according to Mr. Jamet-Fournier, to which is added an annual variable portion of 6% of the ticketing.

Amaclio, who expects around 150.000 visitors per year in groups of 50, hopes to open the parking lot to visitors "as soon as possible". The three-year agreement can be renewed until the end of 2025.