The doors of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris have reopened to the public after a fire engulfed the beloved structure five years ago. The damage required painstaking restoration and rebuilding. But eight restored bells in the northern belfry have begun ringing in preparation for Notre Dame’s grand return,

The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, reopened and hosted its first Mass on Sunday (12/8). It marked the first since the catastrophic fire that destroyed much of the landmark church in 2019. Notre Dame received nearly $1 billion in donations from around the world to rebuild the religious institution.

The reopening ceremonies for Notre Dame were as much a celebration of people as they were a rejoicing of the cathedral’s resurrection from fire.

Following an enormous, expensive restoration effort after the devastating 2019 fire, the Paris cathedral has reopened to the world, at once recognizably itself and possessed of a startling new vibrancy.

The relic, believed to be worn by Jesus Christ, was brought back after being rescued from a devastating fire in 2019.

An ancient relic that many Christians revere as Jesus Christ’s “Crown of Thorns” is returning to Notre Dame, nearly five years after it was saved from the flames of the cathedral’s devastating 2019 fire.