In the end the preservationists won: Notre Dame has been rebuilt exactly as it was before the fire and as it was left in the 19th century by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, a pioneer of restoration.

With three resounding knocks on its doors by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, wielding a staff carved from fire-scorched beams, Paris' Notre Dame cathedral roared back to life Saturday evening.

France celebrated the re-opening of the newly restored Notre Dame cathedral on Saturday at a special church service that featured a standing ovation for the firefighters who saved the 12th-century ...