Chilling rain and the "City of Lights" completely locked down due to high profile guests did not stop the crowds from arriving as close to Notre Dame Cathedral as possible for its inaugural Mass celebrated Dec. 8. The beloved Paris icon also opened its doors to the public for the first time after the devastating fire in 2019, with the second Mass that Sunday for Parisians and tourists.

The world was left stunned when the first images of the rebuilt Notre Dame were published and spread with viral speed as President Emmanuel Macron walked through the bright, unrecognizably beautiful Parisian cathedral on Nov. 29, a week ahead of the Dec. 7-8 official reopening.

The excitement is mounting in Paris ahead of the Dec. 8 reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral with only a few cranes remaining on the outside of the iconic French church.

During the Paris Olympic Games, track and field champions rang the bronze bell located close to the finish line at Saint-Denis' Stade de France. In December, that same bell will ring in the newly reopened Notre Dame Cathedral during the most sacred part of the Mass.

In a historic year for Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which the French capital and the whole world will see reopen Dec. 8, milestones will be reported on regularly, but this one made Parisians shed a tear or two: Reconstruction of the roof structure is now complete.

Highly skilled carpenters from four different companies are working together to rebuild the iconic Notre Dame spire before the grand reopening of the most famous European cathedral on Dec. 8, 2024. Among the craftsmen assigned to the prestigious task are two Americans: Jackson Dubois from New York and Michael Burrey from Boston.

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is “a monument of humanity,” French architect Philippe Villeneuve told a Washington audience.

A novel fundraising approach to restore one of the most iconic monuments in the world, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, enables donors to have a piece of history.

LIMA, Peru -- When the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris went up in flames in April 2019, images were made even more dramatic by thick smoke tinged with yellow as the 460 tons of lead on the roof and spire melted.

PARIS -- Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris welcomed a renewed pledge by French President Emmanuel Macron to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral.

OTTAWA -- When flames ripped through one of the world’s most famous Catholic churches in Paris, France, on April 15, 2019, the world — not just Catholics — mourned the damage done to one of Western civilization’s most iconic structures.

PARIS -- The archbishop of Paris wore a hard hat as he celebrated the first Mass in Notre Dame Cathedral since a huge blaze devastated the landmark building in April.

PARIS - Church leaders joined government officials in saying they expect that Notre Dame Cathedral's grandeur will be restored as firefighters extinguished the last flames of a fast-moving blaze that seriously damaged much of the iconic structure.