Sharjah24 - AFP: In a ceremony attended by hundreds of world leaders, France prepared to reopen Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday after it had been closed for five years. The event celebrated the restoration of the Paris monument that had been devastated by a horrific fire.
Held up as an example of French creativity and resilience by President Emmanuel Macron, Notre Dame's renaissance so soon after a 2019 blaze comes at a difficult time for the country which is without a permanent government.
The two-hour re-opening ceremony will officially begin when archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich knocks three times on the doors of the cathedral at 1800 GMT with a staff cut from one of the wooden roof beams that survived the inferno five years ago.
Macron has scored a major coup by attracting US President-elect Donald Trump, on his first foreign trip since his re-election, for the ceremony along with some 40 other leaders, including Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and British heir to the throne, Prince William.
It is "a cathedral like we have never seen before," Philippe Jost, the head of the restoration project, told Franceinfo radio, saying he was proud to "show the whole world" a "great collective success and a source of pride for all of France".
In one last-minute hitch, harsh weather forced officials to move Macron's planned speech indoors and pre-record a concert planned for after the ceremony, with forecasts for winds of up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour.
The service will feature prayer, organ music and hymns from the cathedral's choir, followed by the televised concert -- pre-recorded Friday night due to the weather -- with performances by Chinese piano virtuoso Lang Lang, South African opera singer Pretty Yende and an orchestra conducted by Venezuelan maestro Gustavo Dudamel.
US singer and fashion designer Pharrell Williams is also believed to have taken part.
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