Paris (AFP)
The square of Notre-Dame de Paris, closed to the public since the cathedral fire more than a year ago, reopens this Sunday, announced the diocese, the town hall of Paris and the establishment responsible for the renovation.
Due to the fire on April 15, 2019, the forecourt and rue du Parvis "suffered lead pollution which led to an immediate closure of the site," the three institutions said in a statement.
But following a "favorable opinion" from the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency on Friday, the Paris police prefect authorized the reopening of the two places, they added, specifying that samples and cleaning regular will be performed.
The Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who chairs the Etablissement public de Notre-Dame, were to go there on Sunday afternoon to mark this reopening, they said. clarified to AFP.
The titanic project to secure the burnt Notre-Dame, suspended in mid-March due to coronavirus, must resume very gradually, with the ambition to revive the cathedral by 2024.
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