After five years of hell: Notre Dame is about to be finished

It's been nearly five years since a fire broke out during the renovation of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. After an inferno that lasted 15 hours, the fire was extinguished and it was determined that the famous building had suffered extensive damage.

On the same night the fire broke out, President Emmanuel Macron announced that the cathedral would be rebuilt. A national fundraising campaign began, and in just one week €1 billion was raised.

The renovation is almost complete, and the process of dismantling the scaffolding that has covered Notre Dame Cathedral for several years began this week.

Once again, one can see the famous scepter surmounted by a rooster, the national symbol of France. The rooster is a new version of the rooster that previously adorned the scepter and is painted with flaming wings – a symbol of the phoenix and resilience.

Opens in December

-I can open the window in the morning. I see Notre Dame. I see the tower – it is beautiful to me and much better than before, says Parisian Frederico Bennani AP.

Large parts of the cathedral are still covered in scaffolding and demolition may take weeks or even months. The cathedral was scheduled to open in time for the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024, but the opening is currently scheduled for December 2024.