The repair of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Saigon is 50% complete and expected to last until 2027. The walls have been cleaned, and part of the roof has been replaced.
The Notre Dame Basilica of Saigon in District 1 has been undergoing renovations for the past six years. Initially, it was anticipated that the project would be finished this year. However, the Covid-19 pandemic created supply problems from Europe and drove up costs by 30–40% because it lasted for more than two years.
Father Ignatio Ho Van Xuan, leader of the restoration department, said, “When re-evaluating with the restoration unit from Belgium, we agreed that the restoration process cannot be rushed but needs to be done very carefully to ensure the longevity of the church.”
In contrast to 2017, a fence around three meters high now encircles the whole church. For restoration purposes, a 60-meter-high scaffolding was installed on the front side of the structure.
Jules Bourard, a French architect, built the church. Construction began in 1877 and took three years to complete. The Notre Dame Basilica of Saigon was classified as a Basilica by the Vatican since 1959.
One of the first sections to be rebuilt is the tile roof system. Even though only a portion of the roof has been repaired, the church’s roof now looks much better than it did six years ago.
Priest Ho Van Xuan says that because all of the segments are connected, which means they must be restored simultaneously, none of them have been fully restored as of yet. The parts that are too severely damaged will be replaced, while the undamaged parts will be maintained.
Two bell towers and two zinc towers are the main areas of attention for the contractor. Numerous blocks of Pierre de Paris limestone that have been eroded and damaged may be seen on each of the towers’ four corners. Each block is around 4 tons in weight. The contractor has to divide each block into 500-kilogram smaller blocks before being removed mechanically.
The restoration board chose to use a substitute stone known as Pierre de Massengis after conferring with specialists. This kind of stone is tougher and looks much better. Ordered from France, the stones will then be transported to a factory in Belgium where they will be modeled to resemble the original stone blocks. The imported stone blocks weigh close to 90 tons in total. Part of the replacement stones have already been brought up to the tower.
The zinc tower is enclosed by scaffolding. Over the course of 140 years, many of the roofing sheets have been oxidized and corroded. The new Azengar plus zinc panels will be used to re-roof these two towers.
Two crosses were taken down from the church’s roof in the beginning of March and sent to Belgium for restoration. After a lengthy period of time, the two 127-year-old crosses were corroded. The crosses are more than 1.8 meters wide, almost 4 meters tall, and weigh 600 kilos.
Photo courtesy of the Ho Chi Minh City Roman Catholic Archdiocese
Via Vnexpress
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