‘By rebuilding the cathedral, I’m rebuilding myself’: The craftsmen working to replace the Notre Dame spire

Nearly four years after the gothic masterpiece burned down, hundreds of craftsmen are working round the clock to return the cathedral’s spire to its former glory, writes Rick Noack

A bystander watches in despair as flames engulf the roof on 15 April 2019 (AFP/Getty)

Almost four years after a fire gutted the over-850-year-old Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the monument is slowly being pieced back together. With a reopening date set for December 2024, workers are carving statues and cranes are lifting stones to repair the vaulted ceilings. And about 200 miles away, at an industrial wood workshop in rural eastern France, carpenters are assembling what will become the cathedral‘s new spire.

“The dimensions are gigantic,” Philippe Villeneuve, a chief architect of Notre Dame’s reconstruction, says.