Editing Notre-Dame de Paris (section)

====Stabilisation of the building====
[[File:Notre Dame de Paris roof damage aerial.webm|thumb|The roof reduced to piles of char at the top of the mostly intact vaults]]

Immediately after the fire, Macron promised that Notre-Dame would be restored, and called for the work to be completed within five years.<ref>''Le Parisien'', 16 April 2019.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Notre-Dame cathedral engulfed by fire|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-47942176|work=BBC News|date=15 April 2019|access-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415181717/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-47942176|archive-date=15 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Latest: French leader vows to rebuild damaged Notre Dame|url=https://www.apnews.com/91d9711a9e5549109dd04d264e02b720|publisher=Associated Press|date=15 April 2019|access-date=15 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415215922/https://apnews.com/91d9711a9e5549109dd04d264e02b720|archive-date=15 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/years-decades-uncertainty-over-time-needed-rebuild-notre-dame-doc-1fo84h1|title=Years? Decades? Uncertainty over time needed to rebuild Notre-Dame|website=AFP.com|date=16 January 2012|language=en|access-date=16 April 2019|archive-date=16 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416122216/https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/years-decades-uncertainty-over-time-needed-rebuild-notre-dame-doc-1fo84h1|url-status=live}}</ref> An international architectural competition was announced to redesign the flèche and roof.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/apr/17/france-announces-architecture-competition-rebuild-notre-dames-spire|title=France announces contest to redesign Notre Dame spire|last=Henley|first=Jon|date=17 April 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 April 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002144936/https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/apr/17/france-announces-architecture-competition-rebuild-notre-dames-spire|url-status=live}}</ref> The announcement drew criticism in the international press from heritage academics and professionals who faulted the French government for being too focused on quickly building a new flèche, and neglecting to frame its response holistically as an inclusive social process encompassing the whole building and its long-term users.<ref>{{Cite news|title=In Notre Dame, we find a heritage that invites us to breathe and reflect: A spire competition is the wrong approach|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/a-proustian-call-to-arms-on-notre-dame|last=Otero-Pailos|first=Jorge|date=19 April 2019|work=The Art Newspaper|access-date=13 May 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0960-6556|archive-date=11 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811002952/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/a-proustian-call-to-arms-on-notre-dame|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Notre Dame Should Be Rebuilt As It Was|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/notre-dame-should-be-rebuilt-as-it-was-says-a-former-director-of-unesco-s-world-heritage-centre|last=Bandarin|first=Francesco|date=30 April 2019|work=The Art Newspaper|access-date=13 May 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0960-6556|archive-date=6 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506173223/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/notre-dame-should-be-rebuilt-as-it-was-says-a-former-director-of-unesco-s-world-heritage-centre|url-status=live}}</ref> A new law was drafted to make Notre-Dame exempt from [[Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage|existing heritage laws and procedures]], which prompted an open letter to Macron signed by over 1,170 heritage experts urging respect for existing regulations.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Notre-Dame: 'Monsieur le président, ne dessaisissez pas les experts du patrimoine!'|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/notre-dame-monsieur-le-president-ne-dessaisissez-pas-les-experts-du-patrimoine-20190428|last=Collective|first=Tribune|date=29 April 2019|work=Le Figaro|access-date=13 May 2019|language=fr|archive-date=12 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512061701/http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/societe/notre-dame-monsieur-le-president-ne-dessaisissez-pas-les-experts-du-patrimoine-20190428|url-status=live}}</ref> The law, which passed on 11 May 2019, was hotly debated in the [[French National Assembly]], with opponents accusing Macron's administration of using Notre-Dame for political grandstanding, and defenders arguing the need for expediency and tax breaks to encourage philanthropic giving.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Le projet de loi pour la restauration de Notre-Dame adopté par l'Assemblée nationale: Ce projet de loi prévoit des dérogations aux règles d'urbanisme pour respecter le calendrier voulu par Emmanuel Macron|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2019/05/11/le-projet-de-loi-pour-la-restauration-de-notre-dame-adopte-par-l-assemblee-nationale_5460759_3224.html|last=Rescan|first=Manon|date=11 May 2019|work=Le Monde|access-date=13 May 2019|language=fr|archive-date=2 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002144312/https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2019/05/11/le-projet-de-loi-pour-la-restauration-de-notre-dame-adopte-par-l-assemblee-nationale_5460759_3224.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Macron suggested he was open to a "contemporary architectural gesture". Even before the competition rules were announced, architects around the world offered suggestions: the proposals included a {{convert|100|m|ft|adj=on}} flèche made of carbon fibre, covered with gold leaf; a roof built of stained glass; a greenhouse; a garden with trees, open to the sky; and a column of light pointed upwards. A poll published in the French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' on 8 May 2019 showed that 55% of French respondents wanted a flèche identical to the original. French culture minister [[Franck Riester]] promised that the restoration would not be hasty.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marshall |first1=Alex |title=Glass, Golden Flames or a Beam of Light: What Should Replace Notre-Dame's Spire? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/arts/design/notre-dame-spire-designs.html |work=The New York Times |date=10 May 2019 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |access-date=27 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002155441/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/arts/design/notre-dame-spire-designs.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On 29 July 2019, the French National Assembly enacted a law requiring that the restoration must "preserve the historic, artistic and architectural interest of the monument."<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite web |last=Bandarin |first=Francesco |date=2 August 2019 |title=New law regarding Notre Dame says restoration must preserve its 'historic, artistic and architectural interest' |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/analysis/it-s-official-the-new-notre-dame-will-look-like-the-old-notre-dame |work=[[The Art Newspaper]] |access-date=26 October 2020 |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419113932/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/analysis/it-s-official-the-new-notre-dame-will-look-like-the-old-notre-dame |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2019, the French government announced that the first stage of reconstruction, the stabilising of the structure against collapse, would last until the end of 2020. In December 2019, Monseigneur Patrick Chauvet, the rector of the cathedral, said there was still a 50% chance that Notre-Dame could not be saved due to the risk of the remaining scaffolding falling onto the three damaged vaults.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/475904-notre-dame-rector-sees-maybe-50-percent-chance-cathedral-can-be|title=Notre Dame rector sees 'maybe' 50 percent chance cathedral can be saved|first=Rebecca|last=Klar|date=25 December 2019|website=The Hill|access-date=27 December 2019|archive-date=27 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227022546/https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/475904-notre-dame-rector-sees-maybe-50-percent-chance-cathedral-can-be|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/12/25/notre-dame-cathedral-may-not-saved-after-fire/2745848001/|title=Notre Dame Cathedral, empty for Christmas, may never recover from devastating fire|first=John|last=Bacon|website=USA Today|access-date=27 December 2019|archive-date=16 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116010947/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/12/25/notre-dame-cathedral-may-not-saved-after-fire/2745848001/|url-status=live}}</ref> Reconstruction could not begin before early 2021. Macron announced that he hoped the reconstructed Cathedral could be finished in time for the opening of the [[2024 Summer Olympics]].<ref name="RFIRecon">Radio France International, 10 October 2019.</ref>

The first task of the restoration was the removal of 250–300 tonnes of melted metal tubes, the remains of the scaffolding, which could have fallen onto the vaults and caused further structural damage. This began in February 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Builders back at Paris's Notre-Dame after COVID-19 shutdown|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200427-builders-back-at-paris-s-notre-dame-after-covid-19-shutdown|date=27 April 2020|website=France 24|language=en|access-date=5 May 2020|archive-date=2 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502143531/https://www.france24.com/en/20200427-builders-back-at-paris-s-notre-dame-after-covid-19-shutdown|url-status=live}}</ref> A crane {{convert|84|m|ft}} high was put in place next to the cathedral to help remove the scaffolding.<ref>LCI News, 20 December 2019.</ref> The work was completed in November 2020.<ref>{{cite news |title=Incendie de Notre-Dame de Paris : le délicat démontage de l'échafaudage commence |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2020/06/08/incendie-de-notre-dame-de-paris-le-delicat-demontage-de-l-echafaudage-commence_6042105_3224.html |website=Le Monde |access-date=8 June 2020 |language=fr |date=8 June 2020 |archive-date=1 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240501073332/https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2020/06/08/incendie-de-notre-dame-de-paris-le-delicat-demontage-de-l-echafaudage-commence_6042105_3224.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Wooden support beams were added to stabilise the flying buttresses and other structures.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Notre Dame Fire: One Year Later|url=https://www.wsj.com/graphics/notre-dame-fix|date=2 April 2020|website=The Wall Street Journal|language=en|access-date=10 March 2021|archive-date=24 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424045827/https://www.wsj.com/graphics/notre-dame-fix/|url-status=live}}</ref> 

On 10 April 2020, the archbishop of Paris, [[Michel Aupetit]], and a handful of participants, all in protective clothing to prevent exposure to lead dust, performed a [[Good Friday]] service inside the cathedral.<ref>{{Cite news|via= YouTube|publisher=[[KTO (TV channel)|KTO TV]]|date=10 April 2020|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QjFAYgmvcI| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/2QjFAYgmvcI| archive-date=28 October 2021|title=Vénération de la Sainte Couronne d'épines à Notre-Dame de Paris|language=fr}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Music was provided by the violinist [[Renaud Capuçon]]; the lectors were the actors [[Philippe Torreton]] and [[Judith Chemla]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfmtv.com/societe/vendredi-saint-a-notre-dame-a-quoi-servent-les-combinaisons-blanches-portees-par-les-artistes-1892252.html|publisher=[[BFM TV]]|title=Vendredi saint à Notre-Dame|date=10 April 2020|first=Salomé|last=Vincendon|access-date=11 April 2020|archive-date=11 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411142259/https://www.bfmtv.com/societe/vendredi-saint-a-notre-dame-a-quoi-servent-les-combinaisons-blanches-portees-par-les-artistes-1892252.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Chemla gave an [[a cappella]] rendition of ''[[Ave Maria]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSAFlbqgjfM| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/XSAFlbqgjfM| archive-date=28 October 2021|title=L'émouvante interprétation de l'Ave Maria chanté par la comédienne Judith Chemla|website=BFM TV YouTube Channel|publisher=[[BFM TV]]|date=10 April 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>