Since the terrible fire that almost destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in April 2019, work has been in full swing to meet the deadline set by the President of the Republic: the cathedral must reopen by 8 December, 2024. A major milestone has been reached with the restoration of the building’s emblematic spire.
The restoration of Notre Dame’s spire is a highly symbolic event. For the first time, the photographs show a major architectural element of the building rising from the scaffolding—proof that the cathedral is succeeding in rising from the ashes. Although the spire still needs to be covered and decorated over the next few days, its clearly recognisable silhouette is once again soaring into the Paris sky.
The new spire stands 96 metres above the ground. It was built using the same materials as the original spire: oak for the structure—from carefully selected trees—and lead for the roof and ornamentation. Each of the eight sides of the spire is to be decorated with almost 200 hooks and floral motifs.
The return of the spire symbolises the victory of those who fought to ensure that the cathedral’s pre-fire appearance was respected. The restoration of the spire had given rise to a flurry of crazy ideas, with some architects wanting to take advantage of the tabula rasa offered by the fire to propose a modernist innovation to the public.
They based their argument on the fact that the spire was not an original element of the cathedral, but was the work of the Second Empire architect and restorer of historic buildings Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, known for his love of the Middle Ages, his unfailing desire to save lost buildings … and his ability to arrange them by adding elements of his own creation. It is to him, for example, that we owe the addition of the two Gothic spires to Clermont Cathedral in Auvergne. In the case of Notre Dame de Paris, there was a 13th-century spire at the crossing of the transept, which was dismantled at the end of the 18th century due to its fragility. In 1793, the revolutionary government took advantage of the situation to recover the lead plates that made up the spire. Viollet-le-Duc decided to reinstall one in 1859, inspired by the spires of the cathedrals of Orléans and Amiens.
Over the years, Viollet-le-Duc’s cleverly thought-out and executed addition has become inseparable from the silhouette of Notre Dame throughout the world, and it was unthinkable not to restore it in the reconstruction of the cathedral after the fire, along with other older mediaeval elements. Although in the aftermath of the fire, the President of the Republic left some doubt, suggesting a “contemporary architectural gesture” to replace the spire, which would be the subject of a competition, he finally agreed with the advice of the architects of historic monuments in July 2020, in favour of an identical reconstruction. He thus provoked the ire of a number of contemporary artists who were disappointed by the President’s decision, which they described as “populist.”
General Georgelin, the orchestrator of the reconstruction work, who recently passed away, had used all his influence to guarantee the return of the spire against these misguided innovators, before the end of 2023. This has now been achieved.
As proof of the intercessory power of the Virgin Mary, the mayor of the central Paris arrondissement and Anne Hidalgo’s sidekick, Ariel Weil, took to Twitter in Latin to mark the occasion: “Habemus spiram! At Notre Dame tonight the spire has returned.”
Even if there are still many uncertainties, notably about the appearance of the cathedral’s interior, with the addition of liturgical furniture with curves that are outrageously modernist and therefore eminently questionable, the return of the spire is in itself excellent news for the faithful and all lovers of Notre-Dame.
Notre Dame Spire Rises From the Ashes
Photo: Miguel MEDINA / AFP
Since the terrible fire that almost destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in April 2019, work has been in full swing to meet the deadline set by the President of the Republic: the cathedral must reopen by 8 December, 2024. A major milestone has been reached with the restoration of the building’s emblematic spire.
The restoration of Notre Dame’s spire is a highly symbolic event. For the first time, the photographs show a major architectural element of the building rising from the scaffolding—proof that the cathedral is succeeding in rising from the ashes. Although the spire still needs to be covered and decorated over the next few days, its clearly recognisable silhouette is once again soaring into the Paris sky.
The new spire stands 96 metres above the ground. It was built using the same materials as the original spire: oak for the structure—from carefully selected trees—and lead for the roof and ornamentation. Each of the eight sides of the spire is to be decorated with almost 200 hooks and floral motifs.
The return of the spire symbolises the victory of those who fought to ensure that the cathedral’s pre-fire appearance was respected. The restoration of the spire had given rise to a flurry of crazy ideas, with some architects wanting to take advantage of the tabula rasa offered by the fire to propose a modernist innovation to the public.
They based their argument on the fact that the spire was not an original element of the cathedral, but was the work of the Second Empire architect and restorer of historic buildings Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, known for his love of the Middle Ages, his unfailing desire to save lost buildings … and his ability to arrange them by adding elements of his own creation. It is to him, for example, that we owe the addition of the two Gothic spires to Clermont Cathedral in Auvergne. In the case of Notre Dame de Paris, there was a 13th-century spire at the crossing of the transept, which was dismantled at the end of the 18th century due to its fragility. In 1793, the revolutionary government took advantage of the situation to recover the lead plates that made up the spire. Viollet-le-Duc decided to reinstall one in 1859, inspired by the spires of the cathedrals of Orléans and Amiens.
Over the years, Viollet-le-Duc’s cleverly thought-out and executed addition has become inseparable from the silhouette of Notre Dame throughout the world, and it was unthinkable not to restore it in the reconstruction of the cathedral after the fire, along with other older mediaeval elements. Although in the aftermath of the fire, the President of the Republic left some doubt, suggesting a “contemporary architectural gesture” to replace the spire, which would be the subject of a competition, he finally agreed with the advice of the architects of historic monuments in July 2020, in favour of an identical reconstruction. He thus provoked the ire of a number of contemporary artists who were disappointed by the President’s decision, which they described as “populist.”
General Georgelin, the orchestrator of the reconstruction work, who recently passed away, had used all his influence to guarantee the return of the spire against these misguided innovators, before the end of 2023. This has now been achieved.
As proof of the intercessory power of the Virgin Mary, the mayor of the central Paris arrondissement and Anne Hidalgo’s sidekick, Ariel Weil, took to Twitter in Latin to mark the occasion: “Habemus spiram! At Notre Dame tonight the spire has returned.”
Even if there are still many uncertainties, notably about the appearance of the cathedral’s interior, with the addition of liturgical furniture with curves that are outrageously modernist and therefore eminently questionable, the return of the spire is in itself excellent news for the faithful and all lovers of Notre-Dame.
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