Notre-Dame: a thousand oaks to rebuild the spire

(ANSA) - PARIS, MARCH 05 - The first 8 oaks were selected today in the Bercé forest, in the Sarthe (region of north-western France) to be used in the reconstruction of part of the spire of Notre-Dame in Paris.

    In total, a thousand oaks from all regions of France were offered for the reconstruction of the cathedral and in particular to redo the skeleton of the spire of the architect Viollet-le-Duc, destroyed in the fire of 15 April 2019, in addition to the beams of the transept. and adjacent.

    To launch the initiative, the Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie and that of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, symbolically applied a plaque on one of the plants, with the words "tree number 1".

"It is a construction site that concerns the whole of France - said General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who as president of the public body in charge of ensuring the safety of Notre-Dame and restoring Notre-Dame - will ensure the safety of the cathedral for 8-10 centuries".

    All regions of France have donated oaks for this undertaking, the state has offered 355 trees from the plots managed by the National Forest Authority.

A thousand trees will have to be felled by the end of March in order to be then closed and prepared.

Then they will have to wait a period of 12-18 months to reach a humidity rate of less than 30%.

    With the preparation of the wood, the reconstruction phase of Notre-Dame begins, which should start next autumn and which will allow the reopening of the cathedral of Paris for worship in April 2024, as planned by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron.

The safety phase is currently nearing completion.

(HANDLE).