There’s a very interesting story that I’ve been holding onto for a long time in my heart. It’s the story of the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Looking at it from a historical perspective, Notre-Dame is a cultural landmark, and its reconstruction represents the preservation of human culture. On a more personal note, in recent years, many people have said that their careers have faced challenges and setbacks. Perhaps the story of the rebuilding of Notre-Dame can offer you some strength and inspiration.
Alright, let’s get started.
The reconstruction of Notre-Dame begins with the fire that broke out at 6:50 PM on April 15, 2019. To put it simply, within less than an hour, the cathedral’s spire collapsed in the fire. Less than two hours after the fire started, at 8:07 PM, the flames had spread widely, and the roof of Notre-Dame began to collapse. Since a large number of surveillance cameras had been set up, every moment was accurately documented.
At the time, The Guardian interviewed Camille, a student from the history department at the Sorbonne University, who said, “Whether you’re Christian or not, this is part of our history, and it’s turning into ashes.” Ultimately, after more than 600 firefighters worked through the night, the fire was brought under control around 3 AM, and it wasn’t until 9:30 AM the next morning that the fire was completely extinguished.
Then came the reconstruction of Notre-Dame, which lasted intermittently for five and a half years. It wasn’t until December 7, 2024, French time, that Notre-Dame was officially reopened to the public. Although President Macron’s original plan was to finish the restoration in five years, it took an additional six months. Given the scale of the project, this is already an impressive achievement. However, it’s important to note that the restoration work isn’t fully completed yet. According to the restoration team’s plans, many secondary repairs will continue until 2030.
During the reopening ceremony, President Macron gave a speech, specifically praising the team responsible for the restoration work. His exact words were, “You are the alchemists of this project, turning ashes into art.”
So, just how difficult was the restoration of Notre-Dame? Let’s go over a few details.
First, the total cost of the restoration. According to existing data, France received donations from nearly 340,000 donors from over 150 countries, totaling 846 million euros, which is about 6.5 billion RMB. Currently, there is a remaining fund of 140 million euros. Yes, nearly all of it has been spent, and there are still many other small repairs to be done.
Second, the labor cost. Over 250 companies and workshops participated in the restoration project, with approximately 2,000 craftsmen involved. These craftsmen included carpenters, stonemasons, scaffolders, sculptors, gilders, and glassworkers. The French government set up 9 specialized working groups, covering areas like wood and frameworks, stained glass, monumental decoration, etc. In total, 50 laboratories and 175 scientists were involved.
Third, the materials used. It’s said that the shortage of building materials was one of the biggest challenges in this restoration. When rebuilding the roof and wooden beams of Notre-Dame, 100 oak trees, each 150 to 200 years old, were required. By early 2021, only 8 suitable oak trees had been found. In addition to this, over 40,000 people signed petitions against cutting down the ancient trees. Of course, the consumption of other materials such as limestone, marble, and wooden pegs was also quite significant, but I won’t go into all the examples. As President Macron summarized, the restoration of Notre-Dame was a “century project.”
So, why were the French so determined to restore Notre-Dame? Because its significance is monumental.
After the fire, Macron gave a speech, saying, “Notre-Dame is our history, our literature, our imagination. It is where we’ve experienced all our significant moments, from plagues to wars to our liberation.”
The writer Hugo, in the third volume of his novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, wrote: “The greatest buildings are mostly the product of society, not individuals. Rather than being the creation of geniuses, they are the artistic crystallization of the laboring masses. They are the treasures of nations, the accumulation of centuries, the remnants left by humanity’s ever-evolving talents.” In short, they are like layers of rock. Each wave of time adds more sediment to them, and every generation leaves its own mark on these monumental buildings.
In other words, the restoration of Notre-Dame was a contest the French had to win, with no other options available.
So, how was it restored? There have always been several approaches to restoring cultural relics. The first is reconstruction, which means restoring it exactly as it was before. The second is stylistic restoration, where contemporary elements are added during the restoration process. The third is to maintain the ruin as it is. In this case, the restoration of Notre-Dame followed the principle of reconstruction, meaning no modern elements were added, and it was restored to its pre-fire state.
In fact, when France first solicited restoration proposals, architects from all over the world submitted ideas. For instance, some suggested turning the roof of Notre-Dame into a racetrack or swimming pool. But in the end, Macron accepted the advice of the National Heritage and Architecture Committee to rebuild Notre-Dame to its original pre-fire appearance.
It’s said that at one point, Macron proposed a competition to design a contemporary-style window for the cathedral, but this sparked strong opposition. A petition was signed by 120,000 people, demanding the preservation of the cathedral’s original rose windows. The petition even asked, “Who gave the head of state the right to change this cathedral, which belongs not to him but to all the people?”
Now, let’s get back to the specifics of the restoration. How did the French manage to “restore it to its former glory”? Dr. Cui Jinze, who works on cultural heritage at Leuven University in Belgium, gave a very detailed explanation. Let’s go through it step by step.
The first step was choosing a standard for the restoration. Notre-Dame was originally built in 1163, making it 862 years old today. In other words, its architecture is not the product of one single era, but a fusion of over 800 years of construction techniques and craftsmanship. In other words, it looked different at different times.
So, which period’s version should be used as the basis for the restoration? They eventually chose the version from the 19th century, because it had the most detailed records. The architect Viollet-le-Duc had restored parts of Notre-Dame that were damaged during the French Revolution, and although some of his work was creative, it largely aligned with the style of the original 12th-century architecture.
In addition to Viollet-le-Duc’s restoration records, the detailed historical archives of Notre-Dame, along with pre-fire digital scans, provided precise data for this restoration. Even the modeling data from Ubisoft’s game Assassin’s Creed was included as a reference. Yes, even video game models were used! You can imagine just how wide-ranging this collaboration was.
Once the standard for the restoration was set, the second step was to conduct a detailed scan and investigation of the site. For example, 3D scanning and panoramic recording technologies were used to meticulously document all the damaged areas. By the end of 2020, France had already released the exploration report and restoration plan, and the report alone was 3,000 pages long. The restoration team also used archaeological methods, strictly adhering to historical records as references. The purpose of these steps was to ensure that the restoration work was based entirely on knowledge, with no guesses involved.
The third step was to dive into the details. Whether in terms of materials or construction methods, every effort was made to stay consistent with the 19th-century construction logic. For example, the restoration team analyzed the stones and timber used in the damaged sections of Notre-Dame’s spire, and even conducted specialized research on the stones. The wood was sourced from the same forest as the original, and the craftsmen processed it using axes, just as the original builders had. That’s right, this restoration also used axes to process the wood, piece by piece.
Professor Zhang Yu, a deputy professor at Southwest Jiaotong University’s School of Architecture, visited the pre-fire Notre-Dame several times and has closely followed the progress of the restoration. Regarding the restoration’s quality, he highly praised it, saying that not only was the restoration efficient, but it was also extremely meticulous.
From the final results, the restored Notre-Dame looks almost identical to the pre-fire cathedral, with only two slight differences.
The first is that the current chief architect, Philippe Villeneuve, placed his own portrait on the roof of the cathedral, replacing a small medieval monster, which now faces the statue of Viollet-le-Duc, the architect who oversaw the last major restoration.
The second difference is that the rooster weathervane atop the cathedral’s spire, which was originally made of metal, has been replaced with a newly designed golden rooster. Inside this rooster, in addition to several religious relics, there is also a list of thousands of names of those who participated in the restoration.
These minor changes are almost negligible when considering the cathedral as a whole.
So, that’s the general process of Notre-Dame’s restoration. Most of us aren’t involved in architecture, so it may be difficult to gain methodological knowledge from this, but the key is the symbolism behind it. It teaches us three things:
- First, as long as something is invested with enough meaning, it can rise again and again, no matter how great the setbacks.
- Second, during the process of restoration, strength may come from unexpected places, just like who would have thought that the “Assassin’s Creed” game could actually help with the restoration of Notre-Dame?
- Third, the restoration process itself is also a process of creation, and it will inevitably carry the imprint of new methods and new contributors. Doesn’t this remind you of how many people approach their work? After one setback, starting anew could actually be the beginning of even greater achievements.
Let’s leave the discussion here for now on this topic.
