Paris
CNN
—

Politely hidden behind construction fences, barbed wire and a scaffolding net, “Our Lady of Paris” healed.

Five years after the flames blazed and the world held its breath, Notre Dame Cathedral is coming back to life.

“It’s a miracle. “Even for us, who are in the cathedral very often, it doesn’t get boring, it gets more beautiful every day,” Philippe Jost, the leader of the Notre Dame reconstruction effort, said in November.

“There’s a Sistine Chapel effect,” he said of returning to the beloved landmark, where there was something to see and explore everywhere.

With the cathedral scheduled to open to the public on December 8, the cause of the catastrophic fire that destroyed the monument on April 15, 2019 remains a mystery today, although investigators believe it was accidental acted.

Regardless, the numbers behind the reconstruction efforts are remarkable. According to Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris, the public body headed by Jost that is responsible for the work, restoring the historic monument to its previous state cost an estimated 700 million euros ($737 million). A total of 846 million euros (US$891 million) in donations was raised from 340,000 donors in 150 countries, with the additional funds used to restore other monuments.

In addition, there are the materials used in the reconstruction: the tallest oak felled was 27 meters high, 1,300 cubic meters of stone was replaced, 8,000 organ pipes (which are France’s largest instrument) were cleaned and re-tuned, 1,500 solidly carved oak benches – all the work of 2,000 dedicated craftsmen.

The result of their work is even more impressive.

A few steps below the cascading statues of the cathedral’s magnificent façade, darkness gives way to light.

The cathedral’s bare columns rise to the ceiling; The walls, freed from centuries of dust and dirt, look brand new.

The cost of the fire wasn’t just financial – the meticulous cleaning and restoration has lost some of the mystical grittiness and charm that visitors will remember. But those responsible hope that this will ensure the health of the building for centuries to come.

French President Emmanuel Macron set an ambitious reconstruction goal five years ago and returned during his visit on Friday to thank the hundreds who put out the flames and helped with the restorations.

For much of the previous 2,055 days, the site was bustling with activity. Teams cleaned marble mosaics, retouched frescoes and climbed over the anthill of scaffolding that filled the center of the landmark.

CNN teams have visited Notre Dame several times since the fire, even as work continued despite Covid-19’s stranglehold on France.

For CNN cameraman Mark Esplin, one change was most noticeable. He recalls that there was still a “huge hole in the ceiling” when he was granted permission to visit the site in 2019, adding: “You could see all the way to the sky.”

Like many others in 2019, a CNN team watched in horror just meters away as the cathedral’s spire burst into flames before falling to the ground. Late in the evening, they heard hundreds of people gathered around the landmark raising their voices in hymns.

“I remember the smell…Mark and I became so close that my jacket smelled of smoke for days,” recalls senior producer Saskya Vandoorne.

Today, the new 315-foot-tall tower’s octagonal base — nearly identical to the one designed in the 19th century by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc — has filled that gap in the ceiling. The wooden tower, seen by so many as a symbol of strength and commitment to reconstruction, finally peeled off its scaffolding and returned to the Paris skyline early last year.

Hearing the bells ring last month for the first time since the fire was another major milestone.

The eight restored bells of the cathedral’s north bell tower, which was partially destroyed in the fire, rang in early November as part of a technical test ahead of Notre Dame’s grand reopening on December 7 and 8.

Some Parisians hailed the return of the nearly life-size statue of the Virgin Mary to Notre Dame, also in November, as “miraculous.” It is considered the symbolic heart of the cathedral and was somehow spared in the fire.

His return last month – during an evening procession attended by hundreds – was another sign of the deep emotions that this recovery has stirred in the hearts of so many people in France.

For Monseigneur Patrick Chauvet, who was rector of Notre Dame de Paris at the time of the fire, the memories are still vivid.

“It was an apocalyptic vision, the cathedral turned upside down,” he said of his first look at Notre Dame after the fire.

“I haven’t fully recovered from it yet; it is engraved into the depths of my being.”

On the night of the fire, when the air was still filled with acrid smoke, Macron made a solemn promise.

“We will rebuild Notre Dame. Because that is what the French expect and because it is what our history deserves,” he said in front of the cathedral ruins.

At that time he set the bold deadline of five years for reconstruction, which seemed to many to be an impossible task.

Few other than those directly involved were able to witness how the skilled workers and craftsmen recreated the techniques and materials of the cathedral’s original construction.

But for those visiting Notre Dame again soon, the best way to appreciate this unlikely victory is to look up.

The ceiling is made of a grid of about 1,200 oak logs – the “forest”, as the workers call it – felled in a former royal forest, just like the beams that supported the original roof.

Harvested in western France and formed into towering frames in the northeast of the country, the oaks of Notre Dame’s new soaring roof snaked along the Seine back to Paris.

At the top sits the tower, at the top of which there is now a golden phoenix, symbolically replacing the rooster that was found among the rubble of the fire.

Notably, most of the cathedral’s original beams date from before 1226, with the oldest coming from a tree felled in 1156.

Today, the country still boasts the world’s largest reserve of mature oak trees, a unique boon to recovery efforts. Three of the oak trees used in the restoration were 230 years old, according to the French forestry agency.

Carpenters were chosen from all over France and the world who had the necessary “know-how” to transform the trees into medieval-style frames, a move that resembled all the highly specific skills required for the restoration: stonemasons, metalworkers, organ builders and more.

These craftsmen, working with larger companies, were able to repurpose outdated construction practices on a large scale in place of faster and cheaper modern construction techniques.

For the man tasked with overseeing the cathedral’s reconstruction, the use of these traditional methods was crucial. “It’s authenticity, it’s the concern to respect the monument,” Jost told CNN. “We use the same materials, oak and stone, and with the same techniques.”

Without its usual adornments – the pews, hymnals and candles of everyday worship, the tourists of our time and the pilgrims of centuries past – the treasured cathedral of Paris is no longer the same.

But despite the indignities of restoration – the noise, the plastic sheets and the metal bars – the majesty of Notre Dame is undeniable.

Perhaps the most recognizable elements in Notre Dame are the famous stained glass windows – masterpieces of the French Gothic – and in particular the three rose windows on the north, south and west facades.

Although the glass survived the fire exceptionally well, it required careful restoration to repair smoke and lead damage, as well as extensive cleaning after decades of exposure and wear.

Years of grime have been removed and the vibrant colors restored, leaving the cathedral’s interior once again bathed in shades of lipstick red and lapis lazuli blue as daylight shines through.

In the coming days, months and years, Notre Dame – hailed as one of the greatest examples of French Gothic architecture – will reclaim its place in Paris’ cultural pantheon.

Many will be looking forward to their first visit to this newly restored landmark. And the fiery colors of these famous windows will surely be proof that Notre Dame – scarred and wounded but transformed – lives on.