Crown of Thorns returns to the cathedral after its reopening

An ancient relic that some say was placed over the head of Jesus Christ at his crucifixion has returned to Notre-Dame, five years after it was saved from a fire that devastated the Paris cathedral.

The Crown of Thorns, formed by a circle of reeds enclosed in a glass and gold tube, was returned to the newly restored cathedral in a ceremony overseen by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.

The crown was purchased by King Louis IX of France in Constantinople in 1239 for 135,000 livres, almost 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 the fire that devastated the 850-year-old building.

Firefighters and police formed a human chain to rescue the relic and other historical objects from the cathedral.

The fire destroyed the cathedral’s wooden interiors and its spire.

The crown, which was kept in the Louvre Museum at one point while the The famous cathedral underwent extensive renovation.It has been placed in a newly built reliquary to replace the one from 1806.

The ceremony marking his return was led by a procession attended by members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a Catholic order of chivalry.

The Crown of Thorns will be displayed to the public starting January 10, French media report.

According to the Bible, Jesus’ captors used the Crown of Thorns to cause him pain and mock his claim to authority.

The cathedral reopened its doors to the public on December 8, after extensive restoration works costing €700 million (£582 million) and involving approximately 2,000 bricklayers, carpenters, restorers, roofers, foundries, experts in art, sculptors and engineers.

Your reopening ceremony World leaders attended.. In a speech at the event, French President Emmanuel Macron said of the restoration: “We must treasure this lesson of fragility, humility and will.”