About forty heads of state and government took part in the festive ceremony on Saturday, including French President Emmanuel Macron and US President-elect Donald Trump.

The gates of the cathedral opened at 7:20 p.m. after Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Paris, symbolically knocked three times with his shepherd's staff. The choirs of the Maitrise de Notre-Dame music school answered each of the three knocks with a psalm. After the third knock and psalm, the gate opened.

Those who took part in the ceremony celebrated the firefighters and builders with a long ovation.

In his speech, Emmanuel Macron “expressed his gratitude to the French nation for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame.

"We have rediscovered what great nations are capable of: accomplishing the impossible," the president said in his speech at the cathedral.

"We chose the final flare, the will, the degree of hope. (…) And in order to be able to realize all this, an unparalleled brotherhood," he added.

"We must treasure this lesson of fragility, humility and will, we must not forget how much we are all worth and how inseparable from the work of all of us is the greatness of this cathedral," said Emmanuel Macron at the end.

In his message to Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, read out in the cathedral, Pope Francis asked that the huge number of visitors to Notre-Dame be “received generously and for free”. The head of the Catholic church rejected the invitation to the ceremony.

Recalling the "terrible fire" five years earlier, the Pope emphasized "how much our hearts were crushed by the danger that a masterpiece of faith and Christian architecture, a centuries-old witness of their national history, could be destroyed."

"Today, sadness and mourning give way to joy, celebration and praise," Pope Francis added, paying tribute to the remarkable work of numerous industry associations and the bravery of firefighters.

"The rebirth of this amazing church should be a visionary sign of the renewal of the Church in France," added the head of the Catholic church.

The famous organ was also played at the ceremony, which was engulfed in toxic dust as a result of the melting of the roof covering during the devastating fire. The eight thousand pipes, the smallest of which are the size of a pencil and the largest of which are more than ten meters high, were painstakingly cleaned and retuned.

Shortly before the ceremony, the bells of the cathedral rang, and Emmanuel Macron welcomed the guests arriving for the opening ceremony in the square in front of the cathedral, including heads of state and government, crowned heads and important personalities.

Upon his arrival, Donald Trump shook hands with Britain's Prince William and several heads of state and government. The future US president sat in the front row next to Emmanuel Macron.

American billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's close adviser, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, former French presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky were present at the ceremony.

The 860-year-old medieval building was carefully restored, it received a new hussar tower and vault, its buttresses and gargoyles regained their old beauty, the white stone and gilded decorations shine brightly again.

Thousands of experts - carpenters, masons, stained glass artists - took part in the restoration at a forced pace, using traditional methods for restoration, repair and replacement of destroyed or damaged parts.

Visitors can book free tickets to the cathedral on the Notre-Dame website, but all available tickets were sold out on Saturday. Groups can visit the cathedral from next year, pilgrims from February 1, and tourists with a guide from June 9. Catholic Church experts expect 15 million visitors a year.

The foundation stone of the cathedral was laid in 1163, the construction lasted for over a hundred years, major restorations were carried out on the building in the 17th and 18th centuries. Victor Hugo made the cathedral a symbol of Paris, choosing it as the subject of his novel published in 1831.

So many donations have been collected for the restoration (more than 840 million euros according to Macron's office) that further investments can be made in the structure.

MTI