U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and U.S. first lady Jill Biden are among global dignitaries expected in Paris Saturday as the city’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral reopens five years after a massive fire.
Trump’s visit to Paris is expected to be his first foreign trip since winning the election last month. U.S. President Joe Biden is not expected to attend.
It has taken five years, 2,000 artisans and workers, and hundreds of millions of dollars to restore the medieval Gothic masterpiece. It was nearly destroyed during a fire in April 2019.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the restored cathedral Friday and said the reconstruction workers had participated in an unprecedented project.
Macron will join the archbishop of Paris, along with Catholic and other dignitaries, for official opening ceremonies Saturday. The cathedral will open its doors to the public on Sunday as part of weeklong reopening events.
Even covered with scaffolding and closed to visitors, Notre Dame has attracted hordes of tourists during the years of reconstruction. Manuele Monica, a visitor from Italy, said, “I can understand why people in the past created buildings such as this one, because it’s so huge. It’s really tall — like it’s going up in the sky.”
The event offers a short reprieve for France, which is facing pre-Christmas strikes, soaring debt and an uncertain political future.
