Restored Notre-Dame towers reopened to visitors

The new visitors’ route is a novelty in Notre-Dame, which opened for liturgical use last December but still required a few repairs in the towers and outside walls.

The towers of Notre-Dame de Paris reopened to visitors for the annual Heritage Days over the weekend, revealing a new wooden spiral staircase that replaces the narrow stone stairs from the Middle Ages.

The double oaken staircase in the south tower, with one way up and another down, avoids the blockages that frequently slowed the old route when visitors going up encountered those going down the same steps.

It also shows off the wooden structure inside the stone towers, exposing the wooden beams that help the outside stone walls hold the weight of the massive bells that ring out over the city. 

Climbing the wooden stairs, visitors will get up close to the cathedral’s largest bell, the 13-tonne “Emmanuel”, which is rung only on special occasions.

“Good physical condition is required and the visit is not recommended for people suffering from vertigo,” said an official warning of the 424 steps to the top.

The new visitors’ route is a novelty in Notre-Dame, which opened for liturgical use last December but still required a few repairs in the towers and outside walls.

Visits to the cathedral are free, but admission to the towers costs €16. Around 30,000 people enter for free every day, but only 400,000 visitors will be allowed to climb the towers each year.

After climbing the south tower with its view over Paris, visitors cross over a walkway to the north tower. During this walk, a small window giving a peek into the famous wooden frame between the vault and the main roof appears.

The wooden structure inside the north tower, which is now used to exit the visit, was so damaged in the fire on 15 April 2019 that the whole tower almost collapsed. That would have upset the cathedral’s balance and brought the whole building down.

Since any firefighter who entered the north tower might not come out alive, the fire chief asked President Emmanuel Macron – who had rushed to the scene – for permission to ask for volunteers. When Macron agreed, the chief had more than enough volunteers to go in and put out the fire. These men saved Notre Dame.

Notre Dame – ‘I felt transcendence there’

Out of the flames, into the light – Notre-Dame restored

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