French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to restore Notre Dame to its former glory and set a five-year deadline. The COVID-19 pandemic caused some delays, but France very nearly met that deadline regardless.

Behind the restoration of Paris’s greatest landmark—and the controversies that nearly consumed it.

Notre Dame Cathedral, which is set to reopen to the public on Sunday after a five-year restoration following a devastating fire, stands as a jewel of Gothic architecture, a symbol of Paris and a tourist mecca.