An artifact said to have been worn by Jesus Christ at his crucifixion has returned to Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after it was rescued from a fire that destroyed the church.
The Crown of Thorns – consisting of a circle of myrtle encased in a tube of crystal and gold – was returned to the cathedral in a ceremony overseen by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.
King Louis IX of France obtained the crown at Constantinople in 1239 for 135,000 livres – roughly half of France's annual expenditure at the time.
Initially kept in the Sainte-Chapelle, it was moved to the treasury of Notre-Dame in 1806 where it remained until a fire tore through the 850-year-old building in 2019.
Firefighters and police officers formed a human chain to rescue the relics and other historical artifacts in the cathedral.
The fire destroyed the cathedral's wooden interiors and tower.
The crown was kept in the Louvre Museum at one time while it was The famous cathedral has undergone extensive renovationwas placed in a newly built reliquary to replace the 1806 reliquary.
Her return ceremony was led by a procession attended by members of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher – a Catholic order of chivalry.
The Crown of Thorns will be on public display starting January 10, according to French media reports.
The cathedral reopened its doors to the public on 8 December, following extensive restoration work costing €700m (£582m) and involving an estimated 2,000 builders, carpenters, restorers, roofers, foundry workers, art experts, sculptors and engineers.
Re-opening ceremony It was attended by world leaders. In a speech at the event, French President Emmanuel Macron said of the restoration: “We must appreciate this lesson of fragility, humility and will.”
