The Latest: The famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris reopens to great fanfare

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PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame is reopening its doors for the first time since a fire in 2019 nearly destroyed Paris’ beloved 12th-century cathedral.

World leaders — including President-elect Donald Trump, America’s first lady Jill Biden, Britain’s Prince William and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — are gathering Saturday among some 1,500 guests to celebrate the restoration of the landmark widely considered to be a pinnacle of French architectural heritage.

Saturday’s events will start with Archbishop Laurent Ulrich symbolically reopening Notre Dame’s grand wooden doors.

Following the 2019 fire, nearly $1 billion in donations poured in from around the world, a tribute to its worldwide appeal.

For more of AP’s coverage on Notre Dame, visit https://apnews.com/hub/notre-dame-cathedral

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Here’s the latest:

Perhaps not surprisingly for such a big cathedral, some of the numbers that help tell the story of Notre Dame’s reopening are on the very big side, too. The bell that will sound to signal the start of the service weighs 13 tons, making it the cathedral’s largest. It has a name – Emmanuel – given to it by King Louis XIV after it was cast in 1683. It rings in F sharp.

Inside, 42,000 square meters of stonework were cleaned during the renovation — an area equivalent to roughly six soccer pitches. The first stone of Notre Dame was laid in 1163. The thunderous great organ of Notre Dame that will be heard in public at Saturday’s service for the first time since April 15, 2019, has 7,952 pipes — the largest as broad as a human torso; the smallest no larger than a pen. The renovated giant console that controls the instrument has five keyboards of 56 notes each, foot pedals for 30 notes, and 115 stops.

Unseen, above the congregation and the repaired vaulted ceilings, is a framework of beams holding up the roof and spire – so dense and intricate that it’s nicknamed “the forest.” Some 2,000 oak trees were felled to rebuild it.

President-elect Donald Trump is to meet Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee presidential palace ahead of the reopening ceremony for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. This is Trump’s first foreign trip since the election.

Macron’s office said both leaders will discuss global crisis, including wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine as well as French-American bilateral relations.

Macron is scheduled to have a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy right after his meeting with Trump.

Notre Dame celebrations comes as Macron’s presidency now faces its gravest crisis after the government’s collapse this week in a historic no-confidence vote that toppled Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

For devout Catholics Patricia and Cyrille Brenner, waiting in the cold outside Notre Dame for its reopening service that they weren’t invited to was the place to be. The couple traveled by night train from Cannes on the French Riviera – famous for its movie festival – to be among the onlookers Saturday hoping for some of the 40,000 spots set aside for the public on the banks of the River Seine facing the cathedral. They bought their train tickets six months ago.

“I’m from Cannes. It’s a bit like the festival. You have to be there to experience it,” said Patricia, 65. “It’s a pilgrimage for us.”

Cyrille, 66, said they were the only members of their parish to make the long trip. “We like to be at the heart of things and, as Christians, it will nourish us,” he said.

While Cyrille said they’d felt “distress, sadness” when Notre Dame burned, they both also noted how sacred relics, statues and the golden cross on the altar – almost miraculously – survived the inferno.

They both marveled at the renovation works that have not only eradicated nearly all traces of the fire inside but made it more resplendent than ever.

Andrey Alexeev, a Ukrainian among onlookers gathering for the reopening of Notre Dame, hopes U.S. president-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy can meet and talk on the ceremony’s sidelines. Their host, French President Emmanuel Macron, was meeting with both leaders before they attend the reopening service for the cathedral.

Alexeev was hoping Trump and Zelenskyy would meet, too. “I hope that meeting can change something in a good way for Ukraine,” he said. “It’s good that Zelenskyy has a chance to speak with Trump and Macron. At least it’s an opportunity for Ukraine.”

Alexeev, who lives in Poland, was visiting Paris with his mother, Olha, who travelled from Ukraine. They were hoping for two of the 40,000 places that were set aside for the public in fenced-off areas on the banks of the River Seine, facing the cathedral. Alexeev said he’s agnostic but that it felt important for him to be as close to the ceremonies as possible. By coincidence, his sister was visiting Paris when Notre Dame burned on April 15, 2019.

“It’s one of the greatest places not only in Europe but also the whole world,” he said. Such an occasion “happens once in 1,000 years, I think. So we are part of history.”

Saturday’s events will blend solemn religious tradition with an official presidential speech and cultural grandeur.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte will welcome the dozens of heads of state and government. Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will then take over — with a rite to symbolically reopen Notre Dame’s doors, kicking off the ceremonies at 7 p.m.

The ceremony that was to have been held outside will then unfold inside, with a film retracing the renovations, music and a speech by Macron.

Ulrich will then take over again, with a rite to reawaken Notre Dame’s organ and the rest of the religious service scheduled to last about 55 minutes.

PARIS — After more than 5 years of renovation, the reopening of Notre Dame — like the Paris Olympics before it — has fallen victim to bad weather.

Forecasted strong winds have upended the running order of the reopening ceremonies on Saturday evening, and forced the whole thing indoors.

The original plan was for an initial outdoor state ceremony led by President Emmanuel Macron, after which Archbishop Laurent Ulrich was to have taken over, leading rites and a religious service inside the cathedral. Those plans would have emphasized France’s carefully policed divide between state and church.

But expected stormy winds prompted the Paris diocese and Macron’s office to telescope the ceremonies together, now all to be held inside the cathedral.

It’s the second time this year that weather has intervened in significant moments for Paris. Rains drenched the July 26 opening ceremony of the Summer Games, dampening the show and the spirits of some spectators.

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