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Eternal Notre-Dame: The New Virtual Reality Experience

There’s a new attraction in Paris and it’s getting lots of buzz. Opened on January 15 at the Espace Grande Arche de la Défense, the Eternal Notre-Dame  is the first-ever virtual reality experience devoted to the famous cathedral, one of the world’s most beloved landmarks. It’s a chance to immerse yourself in 850 years of history on a high-tech journey that’s the result of two years of content development work involving a team of 25 virtual reality experts. Dive into the history of the cathedral — from its original construction in the Middle Ages to the current restoration after the devastating fire in 2019 — and learn secrets along the way.

Only 50 people are allowed simultaneously, equipped with an immersive device to explore the 500m2 space. It’s billed as an emotional journey, also with a real sensory and physical component. For example, when you “ascend” to the heights of the cathedral, you sense the elements and the weather.

The route is led by a companion who acts as your guide for the entire journey through time. The experience lasts 45 minutes.

Eternal Notre-Dame also benefits the resurrection of the cathedral. Thirty percent of the ticket price is donated to the public establishment for the restoration work and to the Notre-Dame Foundation for supporting the interior design program. By taking part in this experience, you are therefore becoming a donor and contributing to the financing of Notre-Dame’s rebirth.

In conjunction with the new attraction, the Espace Grande Arche de la Défense is hosting a free itinerant exhibition about the reconstruction of Notre-Dame. In the spring this interesting exhibit will move to the Conciergerie , followed by the parvis de Notre-Dame in the autumn.

courtesy of Eternal Notre Dame

Practical Information

Eternal Notre-Dame *The event is also available in English.* Espace Grande Arche de la Défense 1 Parvis de la Défense, Puteaux Metro: La Défense (line 1 and RER A) Until Wednesday, December 21, 2022 Not recommended for children under 11 years of age. Full-price ticket costs 30€. Reduced price (under 18, students, etc) is 20 €. The group price is also 20 €, with a minimum of five people. Tickets must be booked online here.

Lead photo credit : courtesy of Eternal Notre Dame

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Step back inside Notre Dame: immersive VR exhibition recreates Paris cathedral prior to 2019 fire

Eternal notre dame will raise funds towards the €1bn restoration of the fire-ravaged cathedral.

The nave of Notre-Dame de Paris. © Orange/Emissive—Eternelle Notre-Dame—2021

Visitors to a virtual reality (VR) exhibition in Paris will be able to experience the city's Notre Dame cathedral as it appeared prior to the devastating fire in April 2019 that damaged much of its structure.

Eternal Notre Dame uses thousands of high-resolution images of the cathedral, gathered by the architects at the Diocese of Paris, to render a 3D "guided tour" of the medieval building. Equipped with a headset, viewers will be immersed in a faithful recreation of the Notre Dame that charts the site's 850-year-old history, from its construction in the Middle Ages to its reconstruction today. Organisers say 30% of ticket sales from the show will be donated to the cathedral's €1bn restoration.

The exhibition opened last week at the Espace Grande Arche in La Défense; it will move to Conciergerie museum in the Ile-de-la-Cité in the spring; later in autumn it will shift to the square outside the Notre Dame; and then it is planned to tour to Rome and New York.

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The technology underpinning the exhibition has been developed by Emissive and HTC Vive, which are also behind Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass , the first VR exhibition staged at the Louvre.

The immersive show and its outreach efforts have received support from many officials leading Notre Dame's recovery, as well as high-ranking French politicians including Paris's mayor Anne Hidalgo, who says in a statement: "I am pleased that the City of Paris is sponsoring Eternelle Notre Dame , which allows Parisians, as well as visitors from all over France and the four corners of the world, to discover or rediscover, through an immersive journey, the beauty of this emblem of our common history”.

© Orange/Emissive—Eternelle Notre-Dame—2021

It has also been praised by the outspoken Jean-Louis Georgelin, President Emmanuel Macron's special representative leading the restoration project, who notably told its chief architect to "shut his big mouth" during a heated debate over the reconstruction of the cathedral's spire.

“This immersive experience will allow visitors to rediscover the splendour and history of this Gothic masterpiece," he says.

Georgelin is currently working to reopen Notre Dame by 2024, in time for the Paris Olympics—a feat many experts agree is unachievable.

Also included in the exhibition is a "preamble" to the VR experience which presents images and videos of the current construction site around the cathedral, as well as interviews with key figures spearheading the restoration.

Emissive/HTC are not the only developers offering immersive experiences of Notre Dame. The French video game company Ubisoft is reportedly creating a VR game in which players become members of the Parisian fire brigade fighting the 2019 fire.

• Eternal Notre Dame, Espace Grande Arche de la Défense, Paris, until 28 February

Notre Dame Virtual Reality Tour

About this activity.

Smartphone tickets accepted

• Your booking is confirmed instantly

Experience Highlights

Immerse yourself in the majesty of the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral through a virtual reality tour . Explore every corner of this iconic monument as you immerse yourself in its history and architecture in an original way.

You'll have immersive equipment at your disposal and you'll be able to choose between two different locations to explore. The activity lasts approximately 1 hour .

• Experience a virtual tour of Notre Dame Cathedral as if you were travelling back in time.
• Discover the history and architectural details of this famous monument.
• Enjoy an immersive and realistic experience thanks to virtual reality technology.

What’s included

• Virtual Reality Tour of Notre Dame of about 1 hour
• Immersive equipment
• Two locations available to choose from

Select date and time

Keep in mind you need to arrive 15 minutes before start

Step by Step

Embark on a unique virtual tour that will take you through the history and beauty of Notre Dame Cathedral , one of Paris' most iconic monuments. Thanks to virtual reality technology , you will be able to explore every corner of this impressive cathedral like never before.

During this tour, which lasts approximately 1 hour , you will be transported into the heart of Notre Dame and admire its Gothic architecture from every angle . You will be able to get up close to the smallest details of the façade, such as the gargoyles and stained glass windows, and marvel at the grandeur of the interior. As you go along the tour, you will receive historical and cultural information about the cathedral, allowing you to better understand its importance in the history of Paris.

The virtual reality tour of Notre Dame is an immersive and realistic experience that will make you feel as if you have travelled back in time. You will be able to walk through the corridors, climb the stairs and explore every corner at your own pace. Plus, you'll have the chance to see what Notre Dame looked like before the devastating fire in 2019.

• O Olivia 5 (0 Reviews) Una experiencia increíble y única, sumergiéndome en la majestuosidad de Notre Dame con la magia de la realidad virtual. ¡No te lo puedes perder!
• M Matilde 4 (0 Reviews) Me encantó el tour virtual de Notre Dame en París. Fue muy interesante y aprendí mucho sobre la historia de la catedral.
• L Lucas 5 (0 Reviews) La gira de realidad virtual de Notre Dame fue impresionante, una manera única de explorar la historia y la belleza de la catedral.
• E Ella 4 (0 Reviews) La experiencia virtual de Notre Dame es impresionante y emocionante.

Other Things You Should Know

• Wheelchair accessible
• It is recommended to arrive 15 minutes before the start
• Last entry: 1 hour before closing time
• The experience is recommended for children over 11 years old and is strictly forbidden for children under 8 years old.
• Animals are prohibited within the experience

Cancellation Policy

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A virtual tour revives the history of Notre-Dame in Paris

A virtual tour of the Notre-Dame cathedral is creating a buzz all around the world, as augmented reality brings this cultural heritage to the general public.

Image courtesy of Histovery.

Maxime Thomas

August 2, 2022

In the early evening of April 15, 2019, a thick cloud of smoke filled the Parisian sky. Notre-Dame de Paris, one of the world’s most iconic cathedrals—the same one that was witness to Napoleon’s coronation, as immortalized by the 18th-century painter Jacques-Louis David—was burning. On that catastrophic night, nine centuries of French history went up in flames as Paris’s beloved cathedral was mauled by fire .

The fire was caused by an accident in the cathedral’s attic, transforming the oak and lead spire designed by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century into a torch. The heat caused it to bow down and then collapse, along with the rest of the roof.

More than 170 years before the tragedy occurred, Victor Hugo had penned a sort of premonition in his novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame : “All eyes were raised to the top of the church. They beheld there an extraordinary sight. On the crest of the highest gallery, higher than the central rose window, there was a great flame rising between the two towers with whirlwinds of sparks.”

Hundreds of years later, this terrible scene played out as Parisians watched 500 firefighters battle the blaze for hours. In the end, the towers were saved, but most of the roof was destroyed. The landmark was shuttered as the city vowed to rebuild.

The emotion evoked by the Notre-Dame fire spread far beyond the borders of France, with gestures of solidarity and donations from companies and individuals pouring in from all corners of the planet. In addition to loyal churchgoers, the monument welcomed more than 30,000 visitors per day before the fire. French President Emmanuel Macron made a solemn vow to the public that the cathedral would be rebuilt by the end of 2024.

An augmented-reality exhibit travels the world

In response to this tragic event, Notre-Dame de Paris, the Experience intends to revive the cathedral’s 900-year-old history. The experience , a virtual immersion in the history of the cathedral, is by Histovery , a French start-up specializing in delivering immersive and augmented-reality (AR) tours.

To date, the company brought the exhibit to nearly 20 museums and monuments in France and in Germany. Through exclusive sponsorship from The L’Oréal Group, the exhibit opened in the France Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Dubai and was on display at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris April–July 2022; it’s at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., April–September 2022. From there, it will travel to Dresden, Germany; New Orleans; and then to a dozen other cities in the next two years.

“Histovery offers a deep dive into the cathedral’s history and restoration,” says Bruno de Sa Moreira, company co-founder and CEO. “We aim to make Notre-Dame de Paris accessible, using augmented reality and interactivity in a way that’s in line with contemporary scientific knowledge.”

In practical terms, visitors begin the virtual tour using an interactive tablet called a HistoPad. With it, they can explore 3D historical reconstructions from all angles, select the level of visual detail, move virtual objects, open doors, and immerse themselves—getting lost in the otherwise inaccessible nooks and crannies of scenes from various time periods. As visitors stroll through the exhibit, they can scan terminals that serve as portals to other eras, allowing them to travel back in time to—and interact with—reenacted historical scenes.

About Maxime Thomas

Maxime Thomas is an editor for the French national and specialized press. He has also worked in radio and covers various aspects of industrial life, including digital transformation and its specific consequences for certain professions.

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Eternelle Notre-Dame

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The first VR expedition of Notre-Dame de Paris

Orange presents “Eternal Notre-Dame”, the first immersive VR expedition to Notre-Dame de Paris. A new and innovative experience to keep Notre-Dame alive.

Relive the history of the cathedral thanks to virtual reality, discover inaccessible places and enter the History …. Thanks to your headset, you will be able to explore Notre-Dame de Paris through the centuries, completely recreated digitally and thus live a real emotional journey to discover the secrets of the monument, while (re)discovering the historical events and characters who have marked its history.

Discover "Eternal Notre-Dame"

The orange group's commitment to notre-dame de paris.

Following the fire of April 15, 2019, the Orange Group, like many French and international companies, wished to actively participate in the work of rebuilding Notre-Dame de Paris. In close collaboration with the Diocese of Paris and the public institution in charge of the conservation and restoration of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, and with the support of the City of Paris, Orange is offering a unique immersive virtual reality tour of this emblematic monument.

A unique 42-minute virtual reality experience where visitors explore the Cathedral through its history

The project partners

“Eternal Notre-Dame” was built, in its scenario and its realization in virtual reality, in close collaboration with the teams of the public establishment and those of the Diocese of Paris. A council of experts appointed by the two partners was mobilized on the project to ensure the architectural, historical, and artistic reliability of the experience, the verisimilitude of the evocation of the construction site and the role of the companions, but also the fidelity of the experience to the spiritual vocation of Notre-Dame de Paris.

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Virtual Reality Tours of Notre-Dame and the Eiffel Tower

Visitors on the Eternal Notre-Dame virtual reality tour take an extensive tour of the cathedral during its construction, including this view over the city circa 1260. Extract image © Orange/Emissive/Amaclio Productions.

On the one hand, I have a natural aversion to recommending virtual reality tours for travelers. After all, we travel to be someplace, not virtually but actually. On the other hand, virtual reality tours, in addition to being entertaining, can be informative and insightful when there’s a historical or otherwise important unseen component to complement and enhance a visit to the real deal.

Now in their infancy, virtual reality tours will become increasingly immersive, seamless and sensorial in the years ahead. As they stand, aside from their entertainment value, do they help travelers on site understand and further appreciate what they’ve come to see?

Curious about the added value of the virtual reality tours now available within actual sight of two major monuments in Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower, I took a test run of their respective magic goggles on site. For Notre-Dame that meant in a subterranean zone one hundred yards in front of the cathedral. For the Eiffel Tower that meant during a stroll along the Champs de Mars, the park that leads to the tower on Paris’s Right Bank.

Eternal Notre-Dame: Amaclio Productions’ virtual reality tour of Notre-Dame Cathedral

Notre-Dame is currently inaccessible to the general public, as it has been since the fire of 2019 destroyed its roof and steeple. The cathedral is scheduled to reopen in December 2024, though under what conditions is not yet known. The virtual reality tour, reached from an underground entrance at the far end of the square in front of the cathedral, is currently programmed to end on June 30, 2024.

Following along with a handsome, well-spoken electronic guide (choose your language), the virtual reality tour of Notre-Dame leads visitors to the doors of the cathedral then inside, through various steps of the building’s medieval construction, 19th-century restoration, and current rehabilitation. It’s an extensive tour. In 45 minutes, while walking and turning in all directions, visitors get a close-up view of the structure inside and out, from various heights, while encountering works and learning about its elements in stone, glass and wood. Visitors “ride” a platform to the upper reaches of the cathedral to stand near a rose window and then higher to visit “the forest” of oak rafters and beams that form the wooden framework, those elements that burned during the fire of 2019. Details are also given about medieval Christianity and the structure’s theological underpinnings. All is made understandable to a wide public.

Altogether, this is an excellent tour that’s as visually compelling as it is informative. And complementing the virtual tour, visitors then visit at their own pace an exhibition about the current renovation and reconstruction. Objects and models along with explanatory panels and interviews in French and in English provide visitors with a clearer understanding of elements touched on during the virtual tour: recreating the wooden framework of the forest, restoring stained glass, the grand organ and the bells, replacing stone vaulting and sculptural elements, and conducting research. By the way, you can keep up with restoration work here .

The combination of the virtual reality tour and the exhibition afterwards make for an exceptional and entertaining introduction to the cathedral for those with little prior understanding of the construction and current restoration of the cathedral and is equally fascinating for those already acquainted with Our Lady of Paris. The virtual tour last 45-minutes, to which you need to add departure time and time to visit the post-tour exhibition, so count 70-90 minutes altogether.

Be sure to get a good look at the façade of Notre-Dame and a side view as well before taking the virtual reality tour. Then, after the virtual tour and exhibition, now armed with a deeper appreciation and understanding of the architectural and artistic glory of the cathedral, reconsider the actual façade and take a walk around the full perimeter of the building.

Practical considerations

There’s a cost to virtual reality tours that may be prohibitive to some. The experience at Eternal Notre-Dame costs 30€99 for adults and 20€99 for children under 17, though on certain days and times adults pay the children price, particularly off season.

Groups of up to six people set off together at the same time, with individual headsets speaking in your chosen language. Each person wears a headset and carries a backpack containing what is essentially a laptop computer while walking along the underground maze. Precise instructions and indications keep you moving and prevent you from bumping into other visitors. The glasses/headset adjust well and the tour is captivating enough that it’s easy to forget the equipment and enjoy the walk. However, the backpack is bit cumbersome, and for anyone with a bad back, carrying it for 45 minutes may be uncomfortable.

Brief pauses between scenes within the virtual universe can be momentarily confusing, but the lit path and your virtual guide will return soon enough to point you in the right direction as you walk.

The minimum recommended age is 11, though children as young as 8 may be admitted. However, given the weight of the backpack and the need to precisely follow lit directional indications so as to avoid bumping into walls and, especially, other visitors, this virtual reality tour may not be appropriate for a small and fidgety preteen. Or you can hold your child’s hand as guidance.

For further information and reservations see Eternal Notre-Dame .

Eternal Notre-Dame was produced by Amaclio Productions , a company that has developed other virtual reality and sound and light shows in France, including at the Invalides in Paris, the Cité de l’Histore at La Défense (Eternal Notre-Dame is also available at that site), Mont Saint Michel, and the Carrousel of Saumur.

Viality Tour’s Eiffel Tower virtual reality and actual walking tour

While Viality Tour’s virtual reality tour of the Eiffel Tower doesn’t have the same high production value as Amaclio’s well-financed Notre-Dame tour, what makes it worthwhile is that this tour has its iconic monument in plain view and is given by an actual human guide, and a delightful one at that.

The tour was developed by the young start-up team of Vladina Flaquière and Michel Dang. Vladina herself serves as your guide. The goggle-wearing virtual portion of the tour takes users through the construction of the Eiffel Tower from 1887 to 1889 and into the Universal Exposition of 1889 for which it was built. Much of the exposition sprawled along the Champs de Mars, the very park where you’ll be walking. The Champs de Mars formerly served as the parade grounds for the nearby Military Academy (Ecole Militaire).

Vladina herself rather than an avatar is your actual guide. Speaking French or English depending on the scheduled or private group, she explains what you see in the goggles as you stand and turn in 360 degrees. You do not walk while wearing the goggles. Instead, between virtual scenes, you then remove the goggles and approach closer and closer to the actual tower. During that time, the tour continues with the actual Eiffel Tower in view as Vladina provides further details about what you see today and answers any questions you may have. So this is both a virtual and an actual tour, lasting about 75 minutes, accompanied by your affable guide and with numerous photo ops along the way. Vladina has worked as a licensed guide at various chateaux in Brittany, the Loire Valley and Versailles, before teaming with Michel to develop Viality Tour. She continues to guide at Versailles.

If you take the tour, you may or may not meet Michel, the equally affable tech half of the team. Michel holds a masters in marketing and worked as a junior product marketing manager with Netgear before he and Vladina partnered to create Viality Tour. Michel does the computer modeling with the assistance of a graphic designer as well as the team’s communications work.

With or without actually going up in the tower, this is an excellent introduction to it. If unwilling to deal with the tickets, lines and crowded elevators, the Viality Tour—both its virtual and actual realities—can serve as your informative visit in and of itself.

If interested in the Viality Tour and also planning to go up the tower, try to sync the two by scheduling the Viality Tour so that it ends 15-30 minutes before the timed ticket you’ve purchased (well) in advance to go up. That will allow for a nice segue from one to the other while allowing you time to go through the security line at the tower. (Viality Tour will not purchase your Eiffel Tower ticket.)

The 75-minute tour costs 29€ for adults and 19€ for children 8 to 17. Children under 8 are not accepted. Groups can consist of up to 10 people.

For further information and for the tour schedule see the Viality Tour website . With sufficient advance planning, privatization for your own group may be possible upon request.

Vladina and Michel plan to extend the Viality Tour concept to other major monuments of the city over the coming years.

© 2024, Gary Lee Kraut

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Visit Notre-Dame cathedral in a new virtual reality experience

The new Éternelle Notre-Dame exhibition uses VR technology to share the story of the famous Parisian landmark. 

Éternelle Notre-Dame opened to the public on 15 January 2022 at the Espace Grande Arche in the business district of La Défense. The 45-minute interactive experience, which has been developed by Orange and Emissive, the company responsible for Mona Lisa: Beyond The Glass , the Louvre’s first-ever VR exhibition, allows users to travel back through 800 years of Notre-Dame’s history from the 12th century to the present day.  

The famous cathedral is currently undergoing extensive repair work after a fire in April 2019 caused devastating damage, and while the real-time restoration project is scheduled for completion in 2024 in time for the Paris Olympic Games, Éternelle Notre-Dame has already restored the building to its former glory. 

The new interactive experience uses a VR headset to explore a historically accurate recreation of Notre-Dame that has been created using old photographs of the interior and exterior. The cutting-edge technology allows visitors to marvel at the architecture as they walk through the magnificent building while learning about the historical events and people that have shaped its history. 

Éternelle Notre-Dame will run at the Espace Grande Arche until 3rd April 2022, when it will transfer to the Conciergerie on the Île de la Cité. It will then move to the Parvis de Notre-Dame – the main square in front of the cathedral – in September, and there are also plans to take the virtual reality experience on tour in France, across Europe and the rest of the world. Tickets cost €30 with 30% of the proceeds from sales going towards the restoration fund. 

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The first ever virtual reality show of Notre-Dame de Paris

Eternal Notre-Dame is a great technological challenge that allows the visitors to dive into the Cathedral's history from the Middle Ages to our time. Eternal Notre-Dame (Éternelle Notre-Dame) has opened to the public in Paris, La Défense, on January 15 t h, 2022. Within a dedicated space, the visitors are equipped with a VR headset and a backpack to enjoy a wonderful and emotional exploration of Cathedral Notre-Dame of Paris. Entirely recreated thanks to advanced 3D technologies, the building is unveiled in a new way and becomes the setting of a one-of-a-kind time travel.

Come and meet the great characters that are associated with Notre-Dame!

of incredible VR experience

travel through time

50 visitors

at the same time

International

Show available in French, English and Spanish

France Info

"An incredible time travel"

Practical informations

Two locations for the experience! It's recommended to book online . For each time slot of reality virtual plan to be on time.

If you choose the Cathedral Square option, enjoy the exhibitions before or after the virtual reality.

If you choose the Arche de la Défense option, you will benefit from the reduced rate on City of History tickets.

Please note that the experience is not recommended for children under 11 years old .

Go to Cathedral Square

Saint-Michel - ND

Châtelet / Les Halles

Métro 1, 7, 11, 14

Go to City of history

Transilien U, L

La Défense (Grande Arche), Exit 1

Shopping centers : CNIT and Quatre Temps

Franck Ferrand

"Incroyable prouesse technologique qui nous permet de revivre l'histoire de la Cathédrale et de replonger 800 ans en arrière, entourés des compagnons bâtisseurs de ces formidables vaisseaux de pierres"

"Une immersion incroyable dans l'histoire de la Cathédrale"

"À voir absolument ! Cette expérience unique au monde est un véritable bijou technologique et historique"

Discover the official trailer

Do not miss this incredible experience!

THE TREASURY OF NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL - From Its Origins to Viollet-le-Duc

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THE TREASURY OF NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL From Its Origins to Viollet-le-Duc

18 October 2023 – 29 January 2024

• Exhibition Overview

Publications

The treasury of notre-dame cathedral, from its origins to viollet-le-duc.

We strongly advise those who wish to visit the exhibition 'The Treasury of Notre-Dame Cathedral: from its Origins to Viollet-le-Duc' to reserve a free time slot in addition to purchasing a museum admission ticket.

As restoration work on the cathedral enters its final stage, the Musée du Louvre dedicates an unprecedented exhibition to the treasury of Notre-Dame de Paris. This treasury, uniting sacerdotal objects and vestments necessary for worship, relics and reliquaries, manuscript books as well as other precious artefacts given as acts of piety, will then return to the cathedral’s neo-Gothic sacristy, built to house it by Jean Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc from 1845 to 1850 and renovated for the cathedral’s 2024 reopening.

This exhibition provides a condensed history of the treasury through more than 120 works, restoring them to the context of its age-old history: from its origins to the Middle Ages up to its resurrection in the 19th century and full flowering with Viollet-le-Duc during the Second Empire.

By returning to the treasury’s origins, the exhibition reveals its diversity and richness, particularly through surviving manuscripts. Although during the French Revolution reliquaries and liturgical objects in precious metal were entirely destroyed, the paintings, drawings and engravings exhibited provide a glimpse of their splendour. For the coronation of Napoleon I at Notre-Dame, the treasury was reconstituted and enriched with prestigious relics, notably those of the Crown of Thorns and the Wood of the Cross (not shown at the Musée du Louvre), transferred from the former treasury of Sainte-Chapelle and for which new reliquaries were commissioned. Between 1845 and 1865, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was given responsibility for the restoration of the cathedral and reconstruction of the sacristy, the treasury’s home. He then offered to create new liturgical furnishings and reliquaries to harmonise with Notre-Dame’s Gothic architecture.

In order to ensure the most enjoyable experience for everyone, group visits are not permitted in the exhibition 'The Treasury of Notre-Dame Cathedral: from its Origins to Viollet-le-Duc'.

ORGANISED BY:

Department of Decorative Arts, Musée du Louvre: Jannic Durand, honorary curator; Anne Dion-Tenenbaum, curator and deputy director; Florian Meunier, curator; Michèle Bimbenet-Privat, honorary curator.

Publications (in French)

CATALOGUE DE L’EXPOSITION Sous la direction des commissaires. Coédition Hazan / musée du Louvre éditions. 336 p., 170 ill., 39 €

Acknowledgements

Présentation d'exposition " le trésor de notre-dame. des origines à viollet-le-duc ".

Le trésor de Notre-Dame de Paris

Des origines à Viollet-le-Duc

Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral on course to reopen in 2024

Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris is on track to reopen to worshippers and the public in 2024, Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak said on Thursday, more than three years after its roof was destroyed in a massive blaze. 

Issued on: 28/07/2022 - 14:42

She said the clean-up phase of the restoration project had ended, allowing rebuilding work to get underway at the end of the summer.

Notre-Dame has been closed for restoration since the fire in 2019 gutted its roof and sent its spire crashing down, to the horror of onlookers and people watching in France and around the world on television and social media.

"We are confident that 2024 will be the year a large part of this work is completed, the year of the re-opening of the cathedral to worshippers and to the public," Abdul Malak said as she visited the site.

Soon after the April 2019 blaze, President Emmanuel Macron said the cathedral — which dates back to the 12th century — would be rebuilt and later promised to get it reopened to worshippers by 2024, when France hosts the Olympic Games.

The cathedral will be restored to its previous design, including the 96-metre (315-feet) spire designed by architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in the mid-1800s and for which new timber has been selected.

After completion of the safety phase in 2021 and work to clean up the interior of the cathedral, reconstruction notably involves rebuilding the wooden roof structure, the vaults and the spire.

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• Notre-Dame Cathedral

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• The Architects
• Cathedral Layout
• Notre-Dame Cathedral Interior
• Notre-Dame Cathedral Exterior
• Before the cathedral was built
• The builders
• Progression through time
• Saint Louis and the relics of passion
• Notre-Dame Cathedral Fire
• Reconstruction
• Restoration
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Remarkable restoration of Paris' Cathedral of Notre Dame nears completion 4 years after fire

April 9, 2023 / 7:48 PM EDT / CBS News

The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris is a treasure. First built in the 13th century, it came to be known and celebrated around the world as a prime example of medieval architecture and engineering. In France, it is sometimes called "the people's palace," because it has been the site of not just worship, but also national consolation and reconciliation for centuries. 

As retired French army General Jean-Louis Georgelin put it to 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker: "The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is, in some way, the heart of France. For the Catholic, of course, for the Christian, but for everybody. … All the great events of France, in some way or another, took place here in the cathedral."

When Notre Dame caught fire on April 15, 2019, it was a tragedy and a trauma shared by people all over the world. Because images of the fire were broadcast live to televisions and smartphones everywhere, it was one of those 21st century moments that the world experienced in real time.

"Everybody stopped," Georgelin said, describing what went on in his home country. "And a lot of people in France cried because they feel that something very deep in the soul of France and the spirit of France was about to collapse." 

The cathedral's iconic 200-foot-tall wooden spire did collapse; that may be the moment people remember most from that night. Journalist and author Agnes Poirier, who lives just across the River Seine from Notre Dame, recalls standing with her neighbors and watching it fall. 

"I remember the scream of the crowd saying, 'No!' as if they couldn't conceive such a thing," Poirier said.

Only a heroic effort by the Paris fire brigade prevented the rest of Notre Dame from collapsing . By the time firefighters arrived, the cathedral's wooden roof and spire were beyond saving, so they focused on fighting fires burning inside the stone towers that are crucial to Notre Dame's structural integrity. 

"There were like 15 or 20 minutes to save Notre Dame," Poirier said. "And they did it."

The full extent of damage became clear on the morning after the fire: the roof and spire were completely gone, there were two huge holes where the collapsing spire crashed through the stone vaults of Notre Dame's ceiling, and the cathedral's floor was covered with deep piles of burned wood and broken stone.

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged just after the fire that Notre Dame would be repaired and reopened within five years. He appointed Georgelin to oversee the huge restoration project. 

The other crucial figure in the project is Philippe Villeneuve, who has been the chief architect in charge of the cathedral for a decade. He is so dedicated to Notre Dame that he has its famous spire tattooed on his arm. 

"They say that I have Notre Dame in my skin," he said in French. "It's very practical, because when I have to explain how the spire fell, it's always better to show that from here to there it tipped over, and from there to there it fell."

Villeneuve was supervising a restoration project focused on the spire at the time the fire broke out in April 2019. 

Whitaker asked him a pointed question: "Did your restoration project have anything to do with the fire breaking out?" 

"An investigation is still underway," Villeneuve responded in French. "No cause of the fire has been identified. But personally, it's unbearable. This fire never should have happened, and it did. inevitably, I feel responsible," he said before switching to English. "In reality, I'm totally destroyed. I so want to rebuild Notre Dame, it's because I want to rebuild myself."

Just before the four-year anniversary of the fire, Villeneuve and Georgelin gave Whitaker and his 60 Minutes colleagues rare access to every aspect of the huge restoration and reconstruction project at Notre Dame. 

Nearly $1 billion in private donations have been pledged to rebuild Notre Dame, most of it from France. Around $50 million has come from Americans.

That money will be used to reconstruct the cathedral as it was, though architects around the world floated a number of redesign ideas . In the end, President Macron and a special committee agreed to rebuild Notre Dame exactly as it had been, and with the same materials: stone, wood  and lead.

"An historic monument, a cathedral, is not something to be played with," Villeneuve said in French. "Notre Dame has been standing for 850 years with a wooden frame and a lead roof, so wood is the way to go."

Whitaker asked Georgelin how many workers and craftsmen are on the project.

"If you take into account all the people in France who are working every day for the reconstruction of the cathedral, it's about 1,000 people," Georgelin said.

That includes lumberjacks who have cut down 2,000 French oak trees for Notre Dame's new roof and spire, and carpenters who are carefully cutting those trees into beams and supports. It also includes stone cutters and sculptors who are painstakingly recreating stone supports and ornaments damaged in the fire. Inside the cathedral, workers are carefully cleaning every one of the ornate stained glass windows, every statue, and every inch of soot-covered stone. 

Sculptor Danae Leblond, 23, chiseled to recreate a floral detail carved hundreds of years ago. 

"We try to remake things identically," she said in French. "But we are also trying to understand the intention of the original sculptors, so we look at the traces left by their tools."

Construction crews have built a 600-ton scaffolding inside Notre Dame to support the rebuilding of its broken stone vaults and a new spire. Georgelin took 60 Minutes to the top of that scaffolding, 100 feet above the cathedral's floor.

"The drama took place here," Georgelin told Whitaker as he stood in the spot where the old spire collapsed. "And we have to rebuild the vault of the transept. The [new] spire will be there, 66 meters high." 

That's 216 feet, and workers are just beginning to assemble the huge wooden beams that will support the new spire. When the structure is ready, 16 copper statues that were part of the old spire will be lifted back into place. Miraculously, they had been removed from their places atop the cathedral just four days before the 2019 fire as part of Villeneuve's original restoration project. The sculptures represent the 12 original apostles of Jesus and four early Christian evangelists. 

There was another copper sculpture that was still at the very top of the spire on the day the fire broke out. It depicted a rooster, which is the symbol of the French people. Anyone who saw the collapse of the spire must have assumed that the rooster had been consumed by the ferocious flames. But the next day, Villeneuve spotted it lying on a lower roof and retrieved it. 

It was a bit mangled from the fall, but somehow untouched by the fire. It has been left in the condition in which it was found, and will be put on display inside the cathedral when it reopens at the end of 2024. 

"Can I tell you," Villeneuve said in French, "that I plan to put a new rooster on top of a new spire one year to the day before the reopening of the cathedral. There will still be scaffolding, but the frame of the spire will again be in the sky of Paris."  

• Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris

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Notre Dame Fire, 5 Years Later: What Are the Plans for Reopening the Cathedral in Paris?

Despite the disaster, except for the main altar, all the works of art in the cathedral and the reliquary containing the crown of thorns were rescued and safely stored in different places.

On April 15, 2019, Paris witnessed one of the most devastating tragedies in its recent history. Notre Dame Cathedral, a religious, architectural, and cultural symbol that had withstood the passage of time, was engulfed in flames.

The fire, which originated in the space under the roof, quickly spread through the wooden rafters of the attic loaded with centuries of history and flammable material. The flames consumed the iconic spire of the cathedral, which collapsed in a dense column of smoke.

The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, announced in a pastoral letter that the reopening of the cathedral is scheduled to begin with a triduum on Dec. 7 that will include the official inauguration in which the French state, which actually owns the cathedral, turns it over to the Catholic Church for the use of worship. A liturgical celebration with a Magnificat or a Te Deum will be held that day and then vespers.

The consecration of the altar is scheduled to take place on Sunday, Dec. 8, during the first Mass in the restored cathedral. Finally, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception will be celebrated, which this year is moved to Dec. 9 because the feast falls on the second Sunday of Advent.

In addition to the events for the reopening of Notre Dame, the archbishop of Paris announced an octave from Dec. 8–15, with each day featuring a solemn celebration with a particular theme.

Architect Philippe Villeneuve was in charge of supervising the restoration of the church, working with a team of professionals to reconstruct the cathedral according to its original design, including the spire, which was designed by architect Eugène Viollet-le-duc in the 19th century.

Reconstruction work began just 24 months after the tragic incident. The first phase consisted of cleaning and securing the site with the participation of more than 200 different companies.

Those responsible for the project have estimated that approximately 1,000 people have been working daily on the restoration process.

According to the Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris project, the task of restoring the cathedral is estimated to have cost about $767 million. Thankfully, the global response has been overwhelming: A total of approximately $928 million has been raised to date, given by donors from 150 countries.

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Rebuilding Notre-Dame: ‘Making beautiful things is what Paris does better than anywhere in the world’

The landmark’s extraordinarily speedy restoration could well become president emmanuel macron’s most enduring legacy.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris: The speedy restoration of the cathedral is an extraordinary achievement

The fire at Notre-Dame was without doubt the most shocking event I’ve ever witnessed. Especially as I had been in the great Gothic cathedral earlier that day – almost exactly five years ago, on April 15th, 2019 – with my brother Liam and his extended family, most of whom were visiting Paris for the first time. When the awful news came through that evening we could barely believe it. By the time we got to Quai de l’Hôtel de Ville a devastating fire had taken hold. Dense clouds of smoke were billowing from the cathedral, where the central spire had just collapsed, and the entire roof was in flames, glowing brightly in the dusk.

As I recalled in an article in The Irish Times five days later, thousands of people had gathered along the quays of the Seine, a few kneeling in prayer and some singing hymns, perhaps hoping for a miracle, as police sirens wailed incessantly and the fire service – the Brigade de sapeurs-pompiers de Paris – fought valiantly to quell the blaze with power hoses.

[  Frank McDonald: I was a visitor to Notre Dame the day it blazed  ]

For a time it looked as if they were losing the battle, as we could see flames leaping into the cathedral’s north tower, where eight of its 21 bronze bells are located; if the fire took hold there it could have brought them down and possibly even the tower. Only when it became clear that this grave danger had been averted did we feel confident enough to leave.

As the fire was dying down a cartoon went viral on Instagram. Drawn by the Ecuadoran architect Cristina Correa Freile , it depicted a grief-stricken Quasimodo, the legendary hunchbacked bell-ringer, cradling the cathedral’s twin towers. “The world embraces Notre-Dame right now,” she wrote. I cried when I first saw it, and I’m sure many others did too.

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Within 24 hours some of the richest people in France – Bernard Arnault, head of the LVMH luxury-goods conglomerate; François-Henri Pinault, whose Kering group runs a stable of fashion brands, Balenciaga, Gucci and Saint Laurent among them; and the Bettencourt Meyers family, owners of L’Oréal – pledged to donate a total of €500 million towards the restoration of Notre-Dame.

Notre-Dame: the cathedral in flames on April 15th, 2019. Photograph: Thierry Mallet/AP Photo

In a televised address from the Elysée Palace, president Emmanuel Macron pledged: “We will rebuild the cathedral of Notre-Dame, even more beautifully, and I want it done within the next five years” – in time for this summer’s Paris Olympics. It seemed like a wildly optimistic timetable given the immensely complex restoration task facing France.

Although the cathedral’s great organ, priceless treasures and rose windows were miraculously saved from the fire, the 13th-century oak roof trusses of its attic – known as la Forêt, or the Forest – were consumed by it. And when the 96-metre spire tumbled into the nave like a huge blazing shard it brought down a large section of stone vaulting at the transept crossing.

Ironically, a programme of restoration work was under way around the spire when the fire started – apparently due to an electrical shortcircuit or someone not extinguishing a cigarette. While the steel scaffolding erected to facilitate this work survived the inferno, it was in a parlous state – as were the coping stones on top of its walls, as well as the north, south and west gables.

Urgent actions to secure the building began the day after the fire, following a visual inspection by Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect for historic monuments in the Paris region. These included stabilising the gables with timber props for lateral support, as well as bringing in mountain climbers to stretch tarpaulins over the exposed nave, choir and transepts for protection from the weather.

Given that the surviving stone vaults were saturated with water from firemen’s hoses, 40 sensors connected to alarms were installed to monitor any structural movement down to the nearest millimetre. Statues on the gables were also taken down as a precautionary measure and nets put in place to guard against the risk of falling masonry; it was that serious.

Notre Dame: the damaged interior the day after the fire. Photograph: Christophe Petit Tesson/Pool via New York Times

Macron appointed a retired French army general, Jean-Louis Georgelin, as his special representative to oversee the restoration project; sadly, he died in August 2023 after a hiking accident in the Pyrenees. Georgelin was succeeded as director of the new public institution, Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris , or Rebuilding Notre-Dame de Paris, by Philippe Jost, a former armaments engineer and senior civil servant.

Intense controversy erupted over Macron’s proposal for an international competition to design a new spire as a “contemporary architectural gesture” in restoring the cathedral. Villeneuve threatened to resign if this was done, the French senate passed a bill requiring that reconstruction be faithful to its “last known visual state”, and the president relented.

The spire wasn’t even original; it was designed by the French medievalist architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc as part of his restoration of Notre-Dame in the 1850s. But the form of his spire had imprinted itself in the public mind as an integral element of the cathedral. Fortunately, its set of 16 copper statues survived the fire as they had been taken down just a few days earlier.

Oak needed to create a replica of the spire was sourced in the old royal forest of Bercé, south of Le Mans, where the selected trees, all at least 18m tall, had been planted during the reign of Louis XIV to provide masts for French naval vessels. A thousand sturdy oaks needed to replace the roof trusses were donated by forests all over France, in solidarity with Paris.

It would have been so easy to specify steel trusses, but the desire for authenticity dictated not only the choice of natural oak but also that the wood should be worked in the same way that medieval carpenters would have done, employing axes and adzes, with dowels to hold pieces together rather than nails or screws. This is even more remarkable given the extremely tight timetable.

The roof had been covered in cast lead sheeting and the spire in moulded lead, all of which – amounting to 460 tonnes – turned molten in the fire, scattering toxic dust everywhere. Lead levels reached up to 500,000 microgrammes per square metre in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral – 100 times the maximum permitted level – and also contaminated the surrounding area.

Notre-Dame: the reconstructed spire after scaffolding was removed in March 2024. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty

The environmental campaign group Robin des Bois took legal action against the authorities for failing to protect the health of workers on the site and nearby residents following the fire. This resulted in a month-long shutdown while the cathedral was decontaminated by a crew in hazmat suits that became compulsory for everyone entering the site until it was made safe.

First the cathedral’s interior was cleaned with high-powered vacuum cleaners with filters to catch lead particles. Then a latex vapour was sprayed on the walls, including sculpted elements. After this vapour hardened to form a layer that captured any remaining dust, as well as centuries-old grime, the latex coating was peeled off to reveal the bright sand-coloured limestone.

A large quantity of the same Lutetian limestone – 1,300 cubic metres – was needed to reconstruct the collapsed vaults, replace the damaged coping stones and carve new decorative elements. All of this was sourced from a single quarry at Bonneuil-en-Valois, 70km northeast of Paris, and brought to the workshops in large blocks for stonemasons to cut and shape.

As in the medieval era a “sculptors’ lodge” was set up outside the cathedral for the team of craftspeople carving or recarving statues, gargoyles and other ornamental pieces. Major carpentry and joinery work was done off site, with cranes used to lift the new oak trusses into position. Altogether 150 companies are involved, with a workforce of 500 on site most of the time.

Notre-Dame: a craftsman works on the cathedral's facade. Photograph: Christophe Ena/Pool/AFP via Getty

Restoration of the ironwork gates that surround the cathedral choir. Photograph: Romaric Toussaint /Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris

“France is uniquely prepared to take on such a delicate, complex, globally important project,” says Maeve Jennings, from Kells, Co Meath, who has been living in Paris for 22 years. “The building site is a town of craftspeople and restorers who are so proud to be working on it. Even the scaffolding is amazing, lit up at night like a crazy cruise ship in the middle of the Seine.

“Making beautiful things is what Paris does better than anywhere in the world, and Parisians know it, so there is great confidence and pride in this project, a real sense of ownership,” says Jennings, who is on the board of Fondation Irlandaise and the Irish Cultural Centre ’s strategy committee. “And because it’s the heart of the city we all see it progress from day to day or week to week.

“France has always had systems in place to ensure the handing down of craft skills from generation to generation through guild-like associations such as Compagnons du Devoir and Meilleurs Ouvriers de France . Even the bureaucracy of the approvals system for major projects in Paris will ensure a world-class restoration and protect the process of achieving it.

“I think it surprised most Parisians how emotionally connected they are to Notre-Dame, something we all knew was wonderful but had totally taken for granted. They speak of seeing the spire fall in the same way as people recall JFK’s assassination or 9/11. Parisians are not given to showing their softer side, but they were weeping openly in the streets, in shared trauma and grief.”

Notre-Dame: carpenters and other craftspeople on March 8th, 2024, after completing the new timber framework above the nave. Photograph: David Bordes/Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris

Notre-Dame: the phoenix-like cockerel weathervane being lifted to the top of the reconstructed spire. Photograph: Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images

When the bells were rung for the first time since the fire, to mark the Epiphany on January 6th this year, and even more so when the replica spire was pieced together and then stripped of scaffolding before the end of March, “it was balm for the city’s soul, and we needed that after what had happened to Notre-Dame and the horrifying Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan massacres in 2015.″

A new phoenix-like golden cockerel weathervane that tops the spire – designed by Philippe Villeneuve as a symbol of the cathedral’s “resurrection” – was blessed by the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, before it was levered into position last December. And to guard against a future fire the oak “forest” in its attic has been fitted with a misting system to quench any outbreak.

Notre-Dame’s “voice”, its incomparable great organ, is also being restored. The largest in France, with 8,000 pipes, five keyboards and 109 stops, it was also contaminated by lead dust and needed to be dismantled for deep cleaning before being reassembled, piece by piece, with its old sheepskin bellows replaced by new ones, and finally tuned to a new level of perfection.

Notre-Dame: the scaffolding has been removed from the cathedral choir little by little. Photograph: David Bordes/Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris

Work continues in an ever clearer interior. Photograph: David Bordes/Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris

Regrettably it proved impossible to organise a visit to the cathedral before the fifth anniversary of the fire – Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris cited scheduling constraints – but there is an immersive interior exhibition on the square in front of it, as well as an excellent outdoor display illustrating what has been happening, on large panels around the perimeter.

Work on the site is set to continue long after the cathedral’s scheduled reopening, on December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. This includes a separate €50 million project, financed by Paris city council, to transform the surroundings of Notre-Dame in line with a superb climate-friendly competition-winning scheme by the Brussels-based landscape architect Bas Smets .

Although still encased by an exoskeleton of steel scaffolding, the cathedral’s thoroughly cleaned and fully restored interior will come as a complete revelation – pristine limestone walls, stained-glass windows more luminous than ever, painted chapels and funerary monuments gleaming, woodwork in the choir stalls and elsewhere looking as good as new. All done and dusted.

By any measure the speedy restoration of the cathedral is an extraordinary achievement that is bound to be seen as Macron’s most enduring legacy. It has also stirred the hearts of people everywhere. Some 340,000 donors from more than 150 countries – including French billionaires – have contributed a total of €846 million towards the cost of this heroic project.

Like all of the cathedrals in France, Notre-Dame de Paris may be owned by the French state, but it truly belongs to the world, now more than ever.

IN THIS SECTION

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