Towering spires, 28 flying buttresses, a 1,200 oak log ceiling lattice. On April 15, 2019, the Notre Dame, a historical French monument in the heart of Paris, went down in flames. Triggering 2,055 days of site restoration and the return of ancient crafts and tradework, the Notre Dame reopened to the public on Sunday, Dec. 8.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the site on Dec. 6, taking a tour of the newly remodeled cathedral alongside his wife and listening to the Grand Organ play once more, after five years of closure for repairs.
“[Notre Dame] is a classic example of gothic architecture. It has our gargoyles, our bar tracery, it has everything we discuss in art history. We want to make sure that it’s not just a church, it’s a place that we can keep coming back to show an example of how things were made in the past,”
Miami Palmetto Senior High AP Art History and Painting I teacher Christine Moros said.
The complete restoration of “Our Lady of Paris” has revived the ancient labor and craftwork required to complete such an architectural staple: cleaning and restoring organ pipes, retouching frescoes, cleaning marble mosaics, and replacing the lattice with 230-year-old wooden logs to preserve the integrity of the original architecture.
“The construction is great because reinstating this direct carving technique of the Greco-Roman past, reinstating how to actually make glass and then color the glass to make a stained glass window is something that we do not see in modern times,” Moros said. “I think that hopefully, this will allow not just the history to be preserved, but to house the masses in a spiritual and religious sense.”
Bringing in expert craftsmen with specific skills, including carpenters from all over the world, stone masons, metal workers, organ builders and more, the reconstruction efforts have reinvigorated the use of traditional trade to ensure the authenticity of the build, restoring centuries of tradition and honoring the country’s past.
Praised and recognized as Paris’ paramount Gothic architectural feat, the return of the Notre Dame de Paris solidified its position as the heart of Parisian culture for the next eight centuries.
