The organ, not affected by the flames during the fire, requires extensive cleaning and restoration.
But these operations cannot be carried out in the cathedral.
The removal of the great organ of Notre-Dame was completed nearly two months in advance, in view of its cleaning room by room, announced Wednesday the public establishment responsible for the restoration of the cathedral of Paris.
This is a new milestone in the securing phase after the completion last month of the dismantling of the old scaffolding.
This work began on August 3.
A scaffolding of nearly 30 meters in which had been fitted two "sapines", vertical openings, had been installed, allowing the elements to descend safely.
All the parts, large and small, were then placed in four waterproof containers and transported to a warehouse in the Paris region.
The organ hadn't been hit by the flames
The organ, a voice that resonated in the Gothic jewel since 1733, is made up of 8,000 pipes divided into 115 stops, which makes it the largest instrument in France by the number of stops.
During the fire, he was not affected by the flames and received relatively little water during the firefighters' response.
Nevertheless, it was covered with lead dust and some parts suffered from the heatwave of July 2019. It therefore required extensive cleaning and restoration, which could not be carried out on site.
The "chamades" or horizontal pipes, the interior metal pipes, which have been the subject of a preliminary cleaning before being placed in custom-made boxes, the wooden pipes, the transmission systems for note orders and games, the 19 box springs, on which most of the pipes rest, have been placed.
The only elements left on site are the sideboard, the facade pipes, too fragile to be transported outside the cathedral, four large bellows, which could not be taken out without dismantling the frame of the buffet.
It needs to be cleaned and restored
This removal is just the prerequisite for a restoration which must be perfect: the great organ will be cleaned and restored, before being redirected to the cathedral to be gradually reassembled.
Six months will then be necessary for its harmonization "so that it can resonate on April 16, 2024", for a Te Deum five years, to the day after the fire, underlined General Jean-Louis Georgelin, president of the establishment public, very attached to this site.
A public call for notice will be published in the first half of the year to choose the company or companies to be entrusted with the cleaning, restoration and reassembly.