LABOR OF LOVE

With heroic help from around the world and an army of outstanding artisans, engineers, and architects, Notre-Dame de Paris prepares to reopen its doors TEXT

- DANA THOMAS

On April 15, 2019, the unthinkable happened: Notre-Dame de Paris caught on fire.

More than 400 firefighters battled bravely into the night. When, after 12-plus hours, officials declared the blaze extinguished, the French Gothic cathedral on the Île de la Cité, dating back some 850 years, was still standing, its famous windows, bell towers, and organ all intact. But the roof had caved in and the interior had been gutted. That morning, President Emmanuel Macron vowed that Notre Dame would be rebuilt in five years-no small feat, given that the original construction took nearly two centuries and it would be "more beautiful than before." His pledge fulfilled, the world will soon see the results of the herculean effort when the cathedral reopens on December 7 and 8 with a consecration Mass said by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.

The French Ministry of Culture and a consortium of public and private partners have worked together to manage and coordinate the monumental project. Nearly $1 billion in donations have poured in, much coming from corporations such as Apple and the Total energy group, and prominent French lineages, including the Bettencourt Meyers family of L'Oréal, the Pinaults of Kering, and the Arnaults of LVMH.

Philippe Villeneuve, Rémi Fromont, and Pascal Prunet, chief architects for French historic monuments, have supervised the reconstruction, executed by close to 250 firms from a wide range of fields, among them carpentry, stained glass, and metalwork. Especially prized were masters of medieval crafts, such as hand-hewing oak beams with axes for the cathedral's roughly 300-foot-long roof.