SAINT LAURENT-DE-LA-PLAIN, France – If time travel were possible, medieval carpenters would no doubt have been amazed at how the carpentry techniques that started the construction of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Cathedral more than 800 years ago are still preserved Today's consumption is for the restoration of the roof of the world-famous monument, which was damaged by fire.
The opposite is certainly true of modern carpenters using medieval skills. Working with axes to craft hundreds of tons of oak beams for Notre Dame's new roof construction was like stepping back in time. It gave them a new appreciation for the work of their predecessors, which extended the architectural framework well into the 13th century.
"Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming," says Peter Henriksson, one of the carpenters. He says there are times when he hammers with a chisel, which reminds him of their medieval counterparts cutting "essentially the same joint 900 years ago." "
"It's exciting," he says. "We probably thought alike in some ways."
Using hand tools to clean up a roof that was reduced to ash by flames in 2019 is a conscious and well-considered decision, especially since power tools would certainly get the job done faster. The aim is to honor the amazing experience of the cathedral's original builders and to continue the ancient art of hand carving.
"We want to restore this cathedral to how it was built in the Middle Ages," said Jean-Louis Georgelain, a retired French army general who is overseeing the renovation.
"It's a way of being faithful to all those who built all of France's extraordinary monuments."
With the cathedral's December 2024 deadline tight, carpenters and architects are also using computer-aided design and other modern technologies to speed up the renovation. Computers were used to create detailed plans for the carpenters to ensure their hand-hewn beams would fit together perfectly.
“Traditional carpenters think a lot,” notes Henrikson. It's "quite amazing to think about how they did it with what they had, the tools and the technology they had back then."
The 61-year-old American is from Grand Marais, Minnesota. Most of the other craftsmen working on the frame are French.
The roof renovation reached an important milestone in May when much of the new wooden structure was assembled and erected in a workshop in the Loire Valley in western France.
The idle work ensured the architects that the frame served its purpose. Next time it will be installed on the roof of the cathedral. Unlike in the Middle Ages, it is transported to Paris by truck and lifted into place by a mechanical crane. Around 1,200 trees were felled for the work.
"Our goal was to restore the wooden frame structure that disappeared in the fire on April 15, 2019 to its original state," explains architect Rémi Fromant, who made detailed drawings of the original frame in 2012.
The reconstructed frame "is the same 13th-century wooden frame," he says. "Our material is exactly the same: oak." We have the same tools, the same axes, exactly the same tools. We have the same know-how. And it will soon return to its old place.
"That," he adds, "is a true resurrection."
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Jon Lester contributed to this report from Paris.
