Notre Dame to reopen on December 7 - five years after devastating fire

Scaffolding stored outside Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral Credit: AP

Notre Dame Cathedral is set to re-open on December 7, following a devastating fire and a five-year long rebuild.

As Macron promised back in 2019, the Cathedral will shed its scaffolding and open it's doors for a series of concerts, celebrations and masses.

The team organising the ceremonies, which will be screened around the world, are hoping they will inspire "moments of joy, peace and fraternity".

Just last week Notre Dame's bells were heard in Paris for the fire time since the fire.

The fire in April 2019 ripped through the 861-year-old building for more than twenty four hours and was thought to have been started accidentally by either a cigarette or an electrical short-circuit.

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The fire ravaged the Cathedral quickly, with a French priest among the firefighters who scrabbled to save some of the most precious artefacts.

The fire was extinguished before spreading to the Northern belfry, but collapsed the main spire, roof and wooden frame.

Notre-Dame's spire collapsed in the fire. Credit: AP

In the wake of the blaze, at least half a billion Euros of donations flooded in to restore the Cathedral, including from fashion moguls Francois-Henri Pinault and Bernard Arnault.

The project's funding had a sluggish start, with some billionaire donors holding back on transferring the millions pledged until the restoration plan was clear.

The restoration chief Philippe Jost said these donors have now “fully fulfilled their financial commitments” and “honored their pledges made on the night of the fire or in the hours that followed.”

Debris inside Notre Dame cathedral after the fire took hold. Credit: AP

Jost added that 140 million Euros, or around £123 million, still remains in the project's fund. The surplus will support future preservation.

The reconstruction effort has been a feat, working with materials older than the original building itself.

From stained-glass windows to paintings to the organ, the Cathedral has been overhauled ahead of the reopening.

The team at the Cathedral are expecting around 15 million visitors per year once the doors reopen.

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