Paris’ Notre-Dame cathedral rises from the ashes with grand reopening, five years on from fire

Ulrich will knock on the door of the Notre-Dame three times with a staff crafted from charred wood salvaged from the cathedral’s fire-ravaged roof. He will be met with a rising tide of choir song after each knock before the doors finally swing open.

The cathedral’s thunderous organ, its 8,000-pipes painstakingly restored and cleaned of toxic dust will also respond to the archbishop’s invocation, with four organists playing a variety of melodies.

A new altar and golden cross has been also installed while fire doors and sprinklers are a modern addition. The crown of thorns, said to be the wreath placed on Jesus Christ’s head during his crucifixion, and one of the cathedral’s most sacred items, will sit in a sparkling reliquary.

Ariel Weil, the mayor of Paris Center, said “a page has been turned and we’re closing that chapter” on the historic building.

Weil said he was among the first to arrive at the scene of the fire after he saw a string of fire trucks racing toward the cathedral, adding that he was shocked to see the flames.

“Something rained down on us. It was some debris. To this day I’m not exactly sure what it was,” he said, adding that he implored onlookers and local residents to move away from the site to safety.

Helpless, like thousands of Parisians and tourists that night, he looked on as the inferno swept through one of the most recognizable sights in the French capital.

For Emily MacKinnon, a self-described Notre-Dame superfan who moved to Paris from the Canadian city of London to be closer to the famed cathedral, it was “worst day of my life.”

But she said “for the size and scale of that fire, we could have lost so much more than the roof and the spire.”

The 29-year-old, who plans to attend the opening ceremony, said she was filled with gratitude about the restoration of the cathedral which she fell in love with as a fourth grader when she wrote a school project about it.

Seeing the “Notre-Dame de Paris” musical on stage for the first time, cemented that passion and she said that she has collected more than a thousand pieces of Notre-Dame memorabilia.

“It’s just been like, everything — my whole life has been Notre-Dame,” said MacKinnon, who now runs her own tour company around the cathedral.