Notre Dame Spire statues return as the cathedral nears reopening, drawing millions into beauty, history, and spiritual renewal
Newsroom (09 July 2025, Gaudium Press )The symbolic hoisting of statues around the spire of Notre Dame Cathedral has ushered in a pivotal phase of the iconic Parisian landmark’s roof reconstruction, with the towers set to reopen to the public on Sept. 20, 2025. The cathedral, which survived a devastating fire in 2019, is experiencing an unprecedented surge in visitors, breaking all-time records as its restoration nears completion.
Father Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, rector of Notre Dame, told OSV News that visitor numbers are soaring. “Currently, we are welcoming 32,500 to 33,000 per day, and we have well exceeded five million people since the beginning of the year,” he said. “Every month, we see 1,000 more visitors per day.”
Starting in September, e-ticketing will allow access to the cathedral’s towers, renowned for their breathtaking views of the City of Light and close-up encounters with the gargoyles and 16 saint statues, soon to be restored to their original positions. On June 23, Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris blessed the first statue, that of St. Paul, as it was lifted by crane, marking a poignant moment in the cathedral’s rebirth.
Designed in the mid-19th century by French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the 16 statues, installed in 1861, depict the apostles and symbols of the four evangelists: the lion (Mark), the bull (Luke), the angel (Matthew), and the eagle (John). Each statue stands 11 feet tall and weighs approximately 330 pounds. Narrowly spared from the 2019 fire, they were removed for restoration just four days before the blaze, which collapsed the cathedral’s roof. Made of a metal frame clad in copper sheets, the statues would not have withstood the intense heat.
Restoration work, conducted from April 2019 to June 2021 in the Dordogne region near Bordeaux, cost $1.64 million, with 85% funded by the Fondation Notre Dame and the remainder by the American Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris. The statues, whose copper had oxidized to a greenish hue, have been meticulously restored to their original brown and are now in pristine condition. Since February 2023, they have been displayed at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris’s Trocadéro square.
Among the statues, St. Thomas, the patron saint of architects, stands out. Modeled after Viollet-le-Duc himself, the statue gazes toward the spire, holding a mason’s ruler inscribed with his name, as if overseeing his creation. By the end of July, all 16 statues will be reinstalled, and the spire will be free of scaffolding and tarps.
“This is a new highlight of this exceptional collective adventure that allows Notre Dame de Paris to present an ever more beautiful face to the world,” said Philippe Jost, president of Rebâtir Notre Dame de Paris, the public institution overseeing the reconstruction. In a June 24 statement, he noted that work on the cathedral’s western massif is nearing completion, with efforts shifting to the apse before the final stages, expected to continue until 2028.
Another project, sparking some controversy, involves replacing six non-figurative stained-glass windows in the cathedral’s south side chapels, installed by Viollet-le-Duc, with contemporary figurative designs themed around Pentecost. French artist Claire Tabouret, selected through a public competition, will complete the windows by December 2026. While the existing windows, undamaged by the fire, hold sentimental value for many Parisians, Father Ribadeau Dumas emphasized that the cathedral’s spiritual life takes precedence.
“The most important thing is what is happening inside the cathedral every day,” he said. “This is not a passing fad but a much deeper movement, part of a spiritual awakening in France and beyond.” He recounted a recent incident in June when a man, inspired by his visit, went to confession for the first time in 49 years. “Many people are having a spiritual experience at Notre Dame,” he added.
Each morning, as the cathedral opens, two lines form—one of visitors and one of the faithful attending the first Mass, converging during the Angelus prayer. In the evening, the groups unite again for a final prayer. “Visiting the cathedral has important spiritual benefits,” Father Ribadeau Dumas said, citing the poet Paul Claudel’s transformative experience of faith at Notre Dame in 1886. “Visitors are struck by the life of faith lived here. We can find God through beauty, but also through the witness of faith lived by others.”
As Notre Dame prepares to fully reopen, its restored spire and statues stand as testaments to resilience, craftsmanship, and the enduring spiritual pull of a global icon.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCAN and OSV News
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