“Notre Dame de Paris: Ever Closer to Reopening” is a label that included all the cultural events, exhibitions, conferences, and activities dedicated to the cathedral before its reopening, on December 8, 2024.
The initiative, led by the Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris public establishment, which is in charge of the cathedral’s restoration, federated such varied actors as major national museums, public and private institutions, associations, and teaching and research organizations, around a “Notre Dame season”. It also facilitated the pooling of content and the presentation of works that have been hidden from public view since the fire, as well as contributing to promoting the many skilled professions involved in the restoration work.
Exhibitions and visits
Notre Dame Space – Orange and Amaclio
Eternal Notre Dame, an immersive journey in time and space
Eternal Notre Dame offers a unique immersive visit of the cathedral in virtual reality. Using a VR headset, visitors can explore a full digital reconstruction of Notre Dame de Paris in a space of over 800m². During the experience, they can discover the secrets of the monument and (re)discover the events and figures of the past that have marked its history. Produced by Emissive with a screenplay by Bruno Seillier, Eternal Notre Dame is a technological achievement that takes the public into the heart of the cathedral’s past through virtual reality, from its construction in the Middle Ages to the current restoration work.
Produced by Orange and Amaclio Productions, Eternal Notre Dame opened to the public on January 15, 2022, in the Grande Arche exhibition space in La Défense and has already welcomed over 60,000 visitors. By taking part in the adventure, each visitor becomes a donor and contributes to the financing of the work: Orange donates all its profits from the exhibition to Fondation Notre Dame to fund the refurnishing of the cathedral, the public establishment to fund the restoration work, and the City of Paris to fund the redevelopment project for the area around the monument.
On the site barriers
The Worksite and Professions of Notre Dame de Paris
Designed by the Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris public establishment, in partnership with Magnum Photos, this exhibition offers a unique insight into the heart of the worksite and the professions involved through photographs by Patrick Zachmann (Magnum Photos).
The Worksite and Professions of Notre Dame de Paris was installed on the worksite barriers in the months following the fire and is fully updated with new photos by Patrick Zachmann (Magnum Photos) and explanatory diagrams.
Concerts
Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris
Concert season in France and abroad
Directed by Henri Chalet, Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris trains approximately 150 pupils and students in the art of solo and choral singing through a secular repertoire that ranges from Gregorian chant to contemporary compositions.
The maîtrisiens receive general education at partner establishments in the morning and study music in the afternoon. Around 60 concerts are organized each season to allow the students to apply what they have learnt. The Maîtrise is also in charge of the music for the 1,200 annual liturgies organized at Notre-Dame.
Colloquiums, conferences and seminars
No event planned.
Past events
Histovery
Notre Dame de Paris: the Augmented Exhibition
Notre Dame de Paris, the Augmented Exhibition offers an exceptional immersion into the history of the monument and invites visitors to discover the work of cathedral builders in the past and present, from 1163 when the first stones were laid to the current restoration work. Designed by the French start-up Histovery, in collaboration with the Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris public establishment, the contracting authority for the current restoration of the cathedral thanks to the patronage of the L’Oréal group, this innovative exhibition combines physical scenography and augmented reality.
First presented at the opening of the French Pavilion at the World Exposition of Dubai in 2021, the exhibition has since shown in Paris, Washington, Dresden, Shanghai, New Orleans, and Berlin. It will continue to travel for the duration of the restoration project, until 2024, with stops planned in 15 cities on 4 continents.
French National Monuments Center (CMN)
Combined visit of the Sainte Chapelle and the Notre Dame de Paris Restoration and Professions Center
The CMN (Conciergerie, Sainte Chapelle) proposes a combined visit with the Restoration and Professions Center (see below) to discover the restoration of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and restoration projects carried out in the Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame in the 19th century. In the Restoration and Professions Center, visitors can learn about the different professions involved in the current work through a detailed exhibition.
Cluny Museum – National Museum of the Middle Ages
Rediscovering the Sculptures of Notre Dame de Paris: a New Perspective on the Cluny Museum Collection
Until March 16, 2025
Curators: Damien Berné, Head Curator of Medieval Sculptures, Cluny Museum
In 2022, the Cluny Museum – National Museum of the Middle Ages launched a program dedicated to the study and restoration of a collection of carved fragments and sculptures from the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, carried out in partnership with the Research and Restoration Center of the Museums of France (C2RMF) and the Research Laboratory for Historic Monuments (LRMH).
The results of this groundbreaking work will be presented to the public during an exhibition dedicated to the sculptural decor of Notre Dame at the time of its construction, from the mid-12th century through the mid-14th century.
Sorbonne Artgallery
Patrick Rimoux : Notre-Dame PALIMPSESTUS
Until 18 January 2025
To accompany the lighting of Notre Dame de Paris, created by the Sculpteur lumière agency, Patrick Rimoux presents the “Notre Dame Palimpsestum” exhibition at Sorbonne Artgallery, 12 Place du Panthéon, 75005 Paris.
Notre-Dame Space
Notre Dame de Paris: at the Heart of the Worksite, Restoration and Professions Center
Until 5 January, 2025
The Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris public establishment offers an informative and enlightening exhibition at the foot of the monument. Admission is free.
In the Notre Dame Space below the square, the “Notre Dame de Paris: at the Heart of the Worksite” exhibition by the Restoration and Professions Center presents the different operations and the know-how required on a daily basis. The exhibition offers a unique insight into the main aspects of the work and features a 1:55 scale model of the cathedral that allows visitors to grasp the full extent of the project. The public can also see remains from the fire and works from the cathedral at close hand. Lastly, the exhibition includes several films presenting the professions and know-how of the men and women who work on the site every day. Admission to the exhibition is free and open to all.
Every days, from 10am to 7.30pm – Free admission, no booking required
More information
On the site barriers
Faces of the restoration worksite
This exhibition celebrates the men and women who, through their exceptional skills and dedication, have been making this high standard restoration possible within the set deadlines.
For a week, Studio Harcourt Paris, high-quality portrait photographers whose timeless signature service is the creation of black-and-white portraits, set up its studio at the site headquarters to take individual and group portraits of nearly 500 people and partners involved in the cathedral’s restoration.
These portraits incarnate the thousands of people at work since 2019. Like sculptures in light and shadow, these portraits offer an insight into the extraordinary endeavor that is the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Stained glass museum (Troyes)
Notre-Dame de Paris: the stained-glass quarrel
Until January 5, 2025
This original exhibition will highlight the 1935 project to decorate the Paris cathedral with stained glass windows for the upper windows of its nave. The project never saw the light of day, and for over thirty years it inflamed the world of heritage and public opinion. Monumental stained glass windows, sketches and archive documents will be on display, brought together for the first time in over 80 years. Tours, workshops and lectures will punctuate the temporary exhibition.
Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine
Notre Dame de Paris. From Builders to Restorers
From February 15, 2023, through September 2, 2024
Curators: Isabelle Marquette, Heritage Curator and Head of the Casts and Mural Paintings Gallery, Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, and Lisa Bergugnat, Cultural Outreach and Program Manager, Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris public establishment
The Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine is extending the “Notre Dame de Paris. From Builders to Restorers” exhibition with new works and content.
Co-designed by the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine and the Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris public establishment, with the support of DRAC Ile-de-France, the exhibition invites you to (re)discover the cathedral and its history, from its construction to the current restoration work.
The exhibition is a unique opportunity to admire, at close hand, the 16 recently restored monumental statues from the spire before they return to their places once the spire has been rebuilt. The statues represent the 12 apostles and the four evangelists and were removed for restoration on April 11, 2019, just four days before the fire.
Mobilier national
The Grand Decor of Notre Dame
From April 24 through July 21, 2024
Commissariat : Caroline Piel, conservatrice générale du patrimoine honoraire, Emmanuel Pénicaut, conservateur général du patrimoine et directeur des collections du Mobilier national
Curators: Caroline Piel, Honorary General Heritage Curator, Emmanuel Pénicaut, General Heritage Curator and Director of Collections at the Mobilier National
The Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs (DRAC) of Île-de-France and the Mobilier National invite you to discover the decor of Notre Dame de Paris in a new light. From ancient masterpieces rescued and conserved after the fire of April 15, 2019, to contemporary works made for the refurnishing of the cathedral, the exhibition will present the work carried out over the past five years to restore and redesign the interior decor of the building. Among the highlights, 21 paintings (including 13 Mays by celebrated painters of the 17th century) that have been restored under the direction of DRAC Île-de-France will be displayed together for the first time in two centuries. The exhibition is a unique opportunity to discover these works and the exceptional know-how and technical and scientific skills of the heritage restorers and the Research and Restoration Center of the Museums of France (C2RMF), who are restoring them to their former glory before their return to the cathedral. These exceptional heritage items will be presented alongside the monumental choir rug donated by Charles X (recently restored by DRAC Île-de-France and the Mobilier National) and the new liturgical furniture and seating designed by the winners of a competition in 2023.
The Louvre Museum
The Treasury of Notre Dame de Paris, from its Origins to Viollet-le-Duc
From October 18, 2023, through January 29, 2024
Curators: Jannic Durand, Honorary General Heritage Curator; Anne Dion-Tenenbaum, General Curator and Deputy Director of the Art Objects Department; Florian Meunier, Head Curator of the Art Objects Department; and Michèle Bimbenet-Privat, Honorary General Curator of the Art Objects Department, the Louvre Museum.
In the Richelieu gallery, the Louvre Museum is presenting an exhibition dedicated to the treasury of Notre Dame, including artefacts such as the Crown of Thorns, the relics of the nail and the wood of the Cross, as well as other items that were saved on the night of April 15, 2019.
When the cathedral reopens, this treasure, which includes the sacerdotal objects and vestments necessary for worship, relics and reliquaries, manuscript books, and other precious artefacts donated as acts of piety, will be returned to the neo-Gothic sacristy of the cathedral that was built to house them by Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-Le-Duc between 1845 and 1850.
The exhibition includes over 120 works and presents a concise history of the treasury, placing it in the context of its ancient past, from its medieval origins to its resurrection in the 19th century and expansion under Viollet-le-Duc during the French Second Empire.
Archaeology Now - Houston
Series “Notre-Dame, a wider world”
October 2024 - June 2025
In Houston, Archaeology Now presents this series of multimedia, multidisciplinary events by archaeologists, artisans, and scientists who are making the cathedral’s preservation possible and scholars who are opening broader understandings of its interconnected world.
In partnership with the Consulat Général de France à Houston, Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, Villa Albertine, and Alliance Française Houston.
Discover the series - Download the brochure
Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi
Colloquium and exhibition: Notre Dame de Paris: an Exceptional Undertaking
From February 26 through March 8, 2024
In the center of the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi is hosting an event dedicated to the exceptional restoration of the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. As part of the event, an exhibition will present photos by Patrick Zachmann (Magnum Photos) showing the different phases of the project, as well as projections of previously inaccessible elements of decor using holographic screens, and a selection of imprints of stonemasons’ marks discovered during the safety phase. An immersive virtual reality experience (Eternal Notre Dame, see above) will also be available to students and the general public for the duration of the exhibition. In first two days following the opening, a series of conferences will be held with guest speakers from the different French establishments taking part in the work who will share their experiences.
Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine
Colloquium: Studying Notre Dame de Paris and its Restoration
April 22, 23, and 24, 2024
Alongside the artisans, craftspeople, architects, and engineers, more than 175 researchers from laboratories all over France have joined forces to improve our understanding of the monument and medieval architecture and guide the restoration work. Divided into nine working groups coordinated by the French Ministry of Culture and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), they support the work through scientific studies. They will present their work during a colloquium on April 22, 23, and 24, 2024, at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine.
French National Heritage Institute (INP) / French National Institute for Art History (INHA)
Conferences: Notre Dame in Projects
From October 17, 2023, through June 4, 2024
The “Notre Dame in Projects” cycle of conferences, organized by the French National Heritage Institute (INP) and the French National Institute for Art History (INHA), invites the public to discover the restoration of Notre Dame de Paris through a series of events held in direct partnership with the scientific support department of the restoration project, led by the CNRS and the French Ministry of Culture.
- October 17, 2023, at 6pm
Conference: Digitally reconstructing the cathedral’s lost timber framework and the transverse rib of the collapsed nave by Antoine Gros and Kevin Jacquot - November 28, 2023, at 6pm
Conference: Over 1,000 capitals: the monumental interior decor of Notre Dame de Paris by Grégory Chaumet, Denis Hayot, and Dany Sandron - January 9, 2024, at 6pm
Conference: The vaults of Notre Dame de Paris: forms, techniques, chronology by Elise Baillieul, Yves Gallet, Andreas Hartmann-Virnichn, Lise Leroux, Jean-Michel Mechling, Cédric Moulis, Dylan Nouzeran, Bruno Phalip, and Arnaud Ybert - February 27, 2024, at 6pm
Conference: From the drawing board to the worksite: an overview of the restoration of Notre Dame by Lassus and Viollet-le-Duc (1843-1869) by Olivier Poisson - April 2, 2024, at 6pm
Conference: The lead roofing of Notre Dame de Paris with regard to 19th-century restoration projects by Diane Daussy - June 4, 2024, at 6pm
Conference: An anthropological approach to the fire and restoration of Notre Dame by the Emotions/Mobilisations working group
Collège des Bernardins
Series of choir concerts
December 9, 10, and 11, 2024
Below the vaults of the nave, Collège des Bernardins pays tribute to Notre Dame de Paris in an exploration of the polyphonic musical repertory initiated by the Notre Dame school, from Pérotin to today.