The air smells different now. If you visited Paris before April 2019, you probably remember the inside of the Notre Dame Cathedral as a dim, slightly damp, and ancient space heavy with the scent of centuries-old incense and beeswax. It was dark. That was part of the charm, honestly. But after the fire that nearly toppled the whole thing into the Seine, the restoration has turned the interior into something almost unrecognizable to those who knew the old version. It’s bright.
I’m not just talking about light bulbs. The blonde stone—Lutetian limestone—has been scrubbed of two hundred years of soot, grime, and "Parisian lung" pollutants. When you walk through those massive doors today, the space doesn't feel like a dusty relic. It feels like a living, breathing architectural marvel that was just finished yesterday.
The Great Cleaning of the Nave
The nave is the long central part where people sit. Before the fire, the walls were literally gray. Architects like Philippe Villeneuve, who has been leading the restoration, pointed out that the 19th-century restoration by Viollet-le-Duc actually added a lot of dark paint and heavy textures that obscured the original Gothic intent. Gothic architecture was always meant to be about light. It was a theological statement: light equals the divine.
Workers spent years using latex suction films to pull dust and lead particles off the stone. You see the results immediately. The inside of the Notre Dame Cathedral now glows with a pale, creamy yellow hue. It’s massive. The vaulted ceilings stretch up nearly 115 feet, and for the first time in our lifetimes, you can actually see the intricate carvings on the ribs of those vaults without squinting.
It’s weird to think that a disaster actually helped us see the building better.
What Happened to the Stained Glass?
People were terrified the Rose Windows would melt. When the lead roof reached temperatures over 800 degrees Celsius, the structural integrity of the glass was the biggest question mark. Remarkably, the three great rose windows—South, North, and West—survived. They were cleaned, but not replaced.
The South Rose, a gift from King Saint Louis, is still there in all its 13th-century glory. However, the light hitting the floor is different now. Because the interior walls are so much lighter, the colors from the stained glass reflect and "bleed" onto the stone. On a sunny afternoon, the floor of the nave looks like it’s been hit by a bag of Skittles.
There’s a bit of a controversy, though. Archbishop Laurent Ulrich pushed for "contemporary" stained glass in six of the side chapels on the south side. Some purists hate it. They wanted replicas of the 19th-century "grisailles" (grayish glass). But the cathedral has always been a layer cake of different eras. Adding 21st-century glass is just the latest layer.
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The Forest is Gone, But the Spire is Back
The roof was famously called "The Forest" because it was made of thousands of ancient oak beams. That’s all gone. Ash.
When you look up at the inside of the Notre Dame Cathedral now, you aren't seeing the back of the lead roof anymore. You’re seeing the reconstructed stone vaults. Above those vaults, the new roof structure is again made of oak—1,200 trees were harvested from French forests—but it’s hidden from view.
The spire is the real showstopper. It collapsed through the roof during the fire, creating a terrifying hole right above the altar. Seeing that hole patched and the spire's base reconstructed from the inside is a trip. The new spire is a 1:1 replica of Viollet-le-Duc’s 1859 design. It’s made of oak covered in lead. It weighs about 750 tons.
The Sound of 8,000 Pipes
The Great Organ is the largest in France. It has five keyboards and nearly 8,000 pipes. It didn't burn, but it was absolutely coated in toxic lead dust. Every single pipe had to be taken out, cleaned, and put back.
Think about the logistics of that. It’s like a 3D puzzle where if you mess up one piece, the whole thing sounds like a dying accordion. The "voice" of the cathedral is back to its thunderous self. When that organ plays, you don't just hear it in your ears; you feel it in your ribs. The acoustics have shifted slightly because the stone is cleaner and harder, reflecting sound a bit more sharply than the soot-muffled walls of the 2010s.
Art, Relics, and the Crown of Thorns
The most famous item inside is the Crown of Thorns. It was saved by Father Jean-Marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, who ran into the burning building to grab it.
It’s back. It’s housed in a new, more secure reliquary.
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The "Mays" of Notre Dame—massive 17th-century paintings by artists like Charles Le Brun—have also returned. These were painted for the cathedral between 1630 and 1707. Before the fire, they were dark and hard to appreciate. Now, after being restored in specialized studios, the blues and golds are vivid. They look like they were painted last week, not during the reign of Louis XIV.
The Floor and the New Furniture
The floor is still the same old stone, but it’s been leveled. There’s a new liturgical "program," which is fancy talk for new chairs and a new altar.
The new bronze furniture—the altar, the cathedra (the bishop's chair), and the baptistery—was designed by Guillaume Bardet. It’s very minimalist. Some people think it’s too modern for a medieval church. It’s made of dark bronze, which provides a heavy contrast to the light limestone walls.
1,500 chairs have been installed. They are made of solid oak from the Sologne forest. They’re simple. No upholstery. Just wood. They are linked together in a way that keeps the rows perfectly straight, which satisfies that specific French need for order.
Why It Matters More Than Ever
Before 2019, Notre Dame felt like a giant museum that happened to have some priests in it. It was a victim of its own success, crowded with 12 million people a year who were mostly looking through their phone screens.
The fire changed the vibe.
The inside of the Notre Dame Cathedral now feels like a triumph. There’s a psychological weight to being in a space that almost didn't exist anymore. You notice the scars. Even with the cleaning, there are places where you can see the modern stone meeting the medieval stone. It’s a patchwork. It’s a survivor.
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Navigating Your Visit
Don't just walk in and look up.
Stop at the entrance. Look at the floor. Then look at the height of the pillars. The transition from the heavy, Romanesque-style bases to the soaring Gothic arches is one of the best ways to see how architectural styles evolved while the thing was being built between 1163 and 1345.
Check out the "Mays" paintings in the side chapels. Most people breeze past them to get to the altar, but they are some of the finest examples of French Baroque art in existence.
Practical Next Steps for Visitors
If you're planning to head inside, keep these logistical realities in mind:
- Reservations are mandatory: The "show up and wait in line for four hours" days are over. You need a digital time slot. Use the official Notre Dame app or website to book your window 24 to 48 hours in advance.
- The Lead Factor: While the cathedral is safe, the surrounding plaza still has strict cleaning protocols. Don't be surprised if you see workers doing specialized maintenance on the paving stones nearby.
- Security is tight: Expect airport-style screening. Avoid bringing large bags; there are no lockers, and they will turn you away.
- Timing the Light: If you want to see the "Skittles" effect from the South Rose window, aim for a mid-afternoon visit on a clear day. The sun hits the south facade perfectly between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM.
- The Crypt: The archaeological crypt under the plaza is a separate ticket but worth it. It shows you the Gallo-Roman ruins that the cathedral was built on top of. It provides the necessary context for why the cathedral is where it is.
- Dress Code: It is still a functioning church. Even if you aren't religious, cover your shoulders and wear respectful clothing. They are stricter about this now than they were before the fire.
The restoration isn't technically "done"—work on the exterior buttresses and the bedside will continue for years—but the interior experience is complete. It is brighter, louder, and more vibrant than any human alive today has ever seen it.
Witnessing the inside of the Notre Dame Cathedral in this specific window of time is a bit like seeing a painting right after the restorer takes the varnish off. It won't stay this pristine forever. The candles will eventually smudge the walls again, and the city air will do its thing. But for now, it’s a glimpse into the 12th century through a 21st-century lens.