PARIS (AP) 鈥� The reopening of this coming weekend is going to be a high-security affair, with a repeat of some measures used during and the sealing-off to tourists of the cathedral's island location in the heart of the French capital.
After more than five following the , invite-only ceremonies Saturday and Sunday will usher in
Police chief Laurent Nu帽ez said only people with invitations and the island's residents will have access to the Ile de la Cit茅 in the middle of the River Seine, which includes Notre Dame and habitually hums with tourists.
He said about 50 heads of state and government are expected and that security arrangements are drawing on the police measures that for the .
鈥淎 very high level of security will be applied," Nu帽ez said in an interview published Monday in Le Parisien.
said late Monday that he would be attending the reopening celebration. The 2019 fire occurred during Trump's first term as U.S. president.
Archbishop to bang on the doors
The first celebrations starting Saturday afternoon will blend religious ritual and showbiz. Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will preside at a reopening service, banging on Notre Dame's shuttered doors with his staff to reopen them, says.
The archbishop will also symbolically reawaken Notre Dame's thunderous grand organ. The fire that coated the huge instrument in toxic dust. Its 8,000 pipes, ranging in size from that of a pen to over 10 meters (33 feet) tall, have been painstakingly .
There will also be psalms, prayers and singing. French President Emmanuel Macron will attend and address the VIP guests.
A musical show
After the service, opera singers Pretty Yende, from South Africa, and Julie Fuchs, from France; Chinese pianist Lang Lang; cellist Yo-Yo Ma; Benin-born singer ; Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji and others will perform at a concert Saturday evening for the cathedral and those who took part in , says the show's broadcaster, France T茅l茅visions.
The security cordon sealing off the whole of the Ile de La Cit茅, plus a stretch of the Seine's southern bank and nine of its bridges, will be in place from early Saturday evening to Sunday night, the police chief said. Only those involved in the ceremonies and residents will be granted access, he said. All shops on the island 鈥� many are geared to the tourist trade 鈥� as well as boat tours that start and stop there will be closed for the weekend, he added.
Sunday Mass and buffet
The Paris archbishop will also lead an inaugural Mass and consecration of the new altar on Sunday morning.
Nearly 170 bishops from France and other countries will join the celebration, as well as priests from all 106 parishes in the Paris diocese, the cathedral website says.
It says Mass will be followed by a 鈥渇raternal buffet鈥� for the needy.
Public viewing areas capable of holding 40,000 people will be set up on the Seine鈥檚 southern bank, so spectators can follow the two days of events on screens, the police chief said.
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John Leicester, The Associated Press
