Let the Countdown Begin: Notre Dame to Reopen in Year, But Won’t Be Ready for Olympics

In time for next Christmas, tourists and Parisians will once again be able to wander under the nave of Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, which was devastated in April 2019 by a fast-moving fire that felled its spire and severely damaged its grand structure.

The scheduled date for the world-famous landmark's reopening is Dec. 8, 2024 — one year from now — after the current phase of construction is finished.

On Friday, to mark the countdown, French President Emmanuel Macron donned a hard hat for a tour of the fenced-off construction site on the banks of the Seine.

The Associated Press reports the cathedral's former workers are excited for the reopening.

Once the restoration is complete, the cathedral will be returned to Notre Dame's priests, employees, chorists and worshippers, though the cathedral may not be fully restored to its pre-fire glory for decades.

Nevertheless, a citywide celebration is being planned for the reopening next year.

Notre Dame is "not the biggest cathedral nor perhaps the most beautiful," the Rev. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, its rector, told the AP this week, but "it is the incarnation of a nation's soul."

A structural fire gutted much of the centuries-old church on a spring morning four years ago.

The fire started on the roof, and by the time firefighters got it under control, its famous spire had collapsed. Much of the roof and upper walls were ruined. The cause of the blaze remains unknown, though it is suspected to have started from a lit cigarette or electrical short.

Officials have said extensive damage to the interior was prevented by the cathedral's vaulted stone ceiling, which largely contained the burning roof as it collapsed.

While the reopening will not be completed in time for the throngs of visitors expected for the coming Summer Olympics, the spire and exterior work should be done — meaning the gothic masterpiece will at least look like its former self to the thousands of athletes and spectators expected to crowd the banks of the Seine for the Opening Ceremony on July 26.