One year after it was gutted by fire, French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged that Paris landmark Notre Dame will be fully restored in five years.
In a video statement on his Twitter account, Macron said "everything" would be done to rebuild Notre-Dame in five years, as he promised last year.
He said restoring the cathedral is important to the people of France because it is a symbol of their resilience and their capacity to overcome hardships.
He repeated the promise, he said, even though the coronavirus pandemic has “monopolized our lives” as well as halted restoration work on the cathedral, since France instituted a precautionary lockdown March 16.
Macron thanked rescuers, donors and builders, who “paved the way to those better days that are soon to come...”
The cathedral’s bell, which had rung only once since the fire on April 15, 2019, will ring Wednesday evening to commemorate the fire. The ringing, at 8:00 p.m. Paris time, will coincide with the hour Parisians have been applauding from their windows in honor of medical staff who have been treating COVID-19 patients.
