Visitors wandering in front of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The building will reopen to the public on Dec 8, after a five-year restoration. — AFP
French ministers have raised the idea of charging tourists to enter Paris’ world-famous Notre-Dame cathedral when it opens in December after a five-year restoration, a proposal that drew a rebuke from the city’s diocese recently.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said she had suggested implementing a “symbolic charge” during a conversation with Paris’ Catholic archbishop, with proceeds dedicated to conserving the country’s religious heritage.
But for the Paris diocese, “free admission to churches and cathedrals” is an important principle for the Catholic Church in France, it said.
“Welcoming every man and woman unconditionally” is part of the church’s “mission”, wrote the diocese in a press release, adding access is “therefore necessarily free of charge”.
An entry fee to Notre-Dame is a way of maintaining other religious sites in France, said Dati, noting other countries charge similar admission prices.
“Across Europe, people have to pay to get into the most remarkable religious buildings,” Dati told conservative daily Le Figaro in an interview published last week.
A €5 (RM23.50) per person charge would bring in around €75mil (RM351.4mil) a year, the culture minister estimated.
“Notre-Dame would be saving every church in Paris and in France. It would be a magnificent symbol.”
Dati was backed up by her conservative colleague Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who recalled paying €5 to visit the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Spain.
Charging would be worth it “if for €5 we can save religious heritage that people may cherish whether they believe or not ... it’s just part of the French landscape”, Retailleau told broadcaster France Inter.
Dati also suggested charging visitors from outside the European Union more to visit French national monuments and museums “to finance renovating our national heritage”.
“The French public shouldn’t have to pay for everything by themselves,” she added.
Gutted by a fire in 2019, Notre-Dame is set to reopen on Dec 7 after a vast reconstruction effort.
France was the world’s most visited country in 2023, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organisation, with around 100 million arrivals – beating out Spain, the US, Italy, and Turkiye in the top five.
Royal wedding venue
Elsewhere, Britain’s King Charles III’s remote private estate in the Scottish Highlands could become an exclusive location for weddings, if an application to the local council is approved.
Documents submitted for consideration by the licencing board of Aberdeenshire Council outline plans to allow “weddings, dinners, meetings and associated events” at the Queen’s Building on the royal Balmoral Estate.
The Queen’s Building lies just north of Balmoral Castle near the estate office and stables, and was built in the 1980s as staff quarters and a canteen.
It was converted last year to accommodate dining for visitors.
If approved at this week’s licencing board meeting, the venue could host up to 277 guests inside, with a further 144 on an outside patio.
Permission to sell alcohol and play music is also part of the application, which was submitted on April 30, the documents showed.
“These events may involve live performances and dancing, where alcohol may be sold up to 12.30am. These events will be rare throughout the year,” the application added.
Balmoral, set in 20,000ha of sprawling grouse moors, forest and farmland, is located around 30km west of Aberdeen and was the late Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite royal residence.
She died there on Sept 8, 2022, aged 96 after a period of ill health.
Privately owned by the monarch, the castle was bought by Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert in the mid-19th century and has since become a favoured summer retreat for the royals.
Its grounds have been open to the public for many years and provision for tourists has gradually increased in recent times, with holiday cottages and Land Rover tours of the estate.
This year the rest of the venue was opened to visitors for the first time, billed as part of plans by King Charles III to give a better insight into royal life.
Tickets for the guided tours were snapped up within 24 hours of going on sale, despite prices upwards of £100 (RM562). – AFP
