The Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, struck the doors of Notre Dame three times with his crozier, and a psalm was sung inside in response, at a ceremony on Saturday to mark the reopening of the newly restored cathedral.
Minutes earlier, the cathedral’s bells rang out and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed guests, including US President-elect Donald Trump, five-and-a-half years after a huge fire brought the 860-year-old building close to collapse.
“Here we are. The whole world is watching us. Let’s reopen Notre Dame,” Macron said on X.
Notre Dame has been meticulously restored, with a new spire and rib vaulting, its flying buttresses and carved stone gargoyles returned to their past glory and white stone and gold decorations shining brightly once again.
Getting Trump to attend, and organising a meeting between him and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Elysee Palace ahead of the Notre Dame ceremony, was a coup for Macron as he faces a political crisis at home after parliament ousted his prime minister.
