Paris (AFP)
The forecourt of Notre-Dame de Paris, closed to the public since the cathedral fire more than a year ago, reopened this Sunday, a "very beautiful symbol" according to the Minister of Culture Franck Riester, and " a form of almost rebirth "according to the mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Opening the day of Pentecost is "an extraordinary sign", "a liberation", also greeted by their side the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Michel Aupetit, before the press.
They came to mark this reopening, with General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who chairs the Etablissement public de Notre-Dame. All wore protective masks against the coronavirus.
Due to the fire of April 15, 2019, the forecourt and rue du Parvis "suffered lead pollution which led to an immediate closure of the site," recalled the diocese, the town hall of Paris and the establishment responsible for the renovation in a press release.
After a "favorable opinion" of 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 regular cleaning will be performed.
This reopening is a "first step to find Notre-Dame," said Riester, during a brief surprise visit to the forecourt which was slowly starting to fill.
Parisians came especially, like Stéphanie Cadillon, librarian: "Notre-Dame is our emblem, more than the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to see what had changed ... We find that it has shrunk", a- she told AFP.
Paul Lafuente, a student in the capital from New Caledonia, also testifies: "We have seen Notre-Dame from afar for months, it feels weird to come back to the forecourt".
The work to secure the burnt Notre-Dame, suspended in mid-March due to coronavirus, must resume very gradually, always with the aim of reviving the cathedral by 2024.
© 2020 AFP