PARIS – Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his wife, Anna Hakobyan, attended the reopening ceremony of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris.
France celebrated the historic occasion on Saturday with a special church service that included a standing ovation for the firefighters who heroically saved the 12th-century landmark during the devastating 2019 blaze, as reported by France 24.
The two-hour ceremony was attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Croatian President Zoran Milanović, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, and other world leaders and heads of government.
“Notre Dame, model of faith, open your doors to bring together the far-flung children of God in joy,” declared Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, striking a wooden staff crafted from a roof beam that had survived the fire five years ago.
In a brief speech, President Macron conveyed the “gratitude of the French nation” for the remarkable restoration work completed at an unprecedented pace over the past five years. France, he noted, had “rediscovered what great nations can do – achieve the impossible.”
The restoration effort, which cost approximately 700 million euros ($750 million), was financed through donations. Despite initial predictions that the project would take decades, the reopening was accomplished within the ambitious five-year deadline.
In the evening, Prime Minister Pashinyan and Anna Hakobyan attended an official dinner hosted by Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron at the Élysée Palace, honoring the Heads of State and Government who participated in the reopening ceremony of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris.
