The pharaonic restoration work is advancing at a good pace, but Notre Dame will not be ready for the Olympic Games in Paris, in the summer (boreal) of 2024.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, visited this Friday the works of the temple on the occasion of that fourth anniversary.
“Stay the course, that’s my motto,” Macron declared as he toured inside the cathedral.
The French president has been facing strong opposition in the streets for three months to his reform of the pension system. For the Notre-Dame visit, the police established a strong security cordon around the church.
“I think we can say that we will arrive on time” for the reopening of the cathedral at the end of 2024, said General Jean-Louis Georgelin, responsible for the restoration project.
“It has not been easy but we have overcome all obstacles“, he added.
The experts are concluding the cleaning of the approximately 42 thousand square meters of walls, ornaments and vaults.
The great organ, which was undamaged but covered in lead ash, has been dismantled, and its 8,000 pipes are being reinstalled one by one.
The judicial investigation into the origin of the fire is still open, as well as another into the contamination caused by the lead smelting.
The Notre Dame fire shocked French society, and popular mobilization raised a record 846 million euros (935 million dollars at current exchange rates) for restoration.