The cathedral’s new chairs Notre-Dame de Parismade by a cabinet-maker in the Landes region, received their blessing from the bishop of the diocese of Aire-et-Dax on Monday November 18th, on the eve of their departure for the capital. The prelate had proposed this blessing ” unusual “last spring.

In the Hagetmau workshops of Bastiat Sièges, before 80 guests scattered among rolls of fabric and the prototype of Notre-Dame’s future prie-Dieu, Monseigneur Nicolas Souchu, dressed in his alb, blessed a small portion of the 1,500 chairs that will today join the cathedral’s renovated nave, rebuilt after the fire of April 2019. All liturgical objects in the cathedral will be blessed ” but the chairs probably wouldn’t have been “, explains the Landes bishop to AFP. ” It’s also a way of honoring those who made them “he adds.

SME Bastiat Sièges, founded in 1964, was chosen to manufacture in ” limited and exclusive edition The company has been commissioned to produce “the seats to furnish the 12th-century Gothic masterpiece, one of Europe’s most visited monuments. An order worth ” hundreds of thousands of euros “1.4 million in annual sales.

“Better comfort

Alain Bastiat, the company’s managing director, hailed, in a moving voice, a ” an extraordinary adventure, 100% Landes “except for the oak, which comes from the forests of Sologne. Sylvain Bastiat, Sales Director, explains: “The family firm was also commissioned to design the prie-Dieu and benches for the cathedral’s ancillary chapels, which will be delivered in February.

Maïté Lausaman, 71, and Véronique Devineau, 61, members of the Saint-Girons-de-Chalosse parish choir, express their ” pride and honor “that these chairs be made in the Landes. ” A small part of our parish goes to Notre-Dame “reveals Véronique.

The chair, made of light-colored solid oak with clean lines and low to allow the faithful to pray with their elbows on the backrest, was designed by Iona Vautrin from Brittany. The seat, slightly hollowed out and sloping backwards, offers greater comfort than the old benches, which were reduced to ashes. The stackable chairs can also be connected to each other by a brass clip. The model was chosen by the Archbishop of Paris, Monsignor Laurent Ulrich, as part of a call for tenders issued by the association Revoir Notre-Dame de Paris, which is piloting the renovation project.

On November 15, the statue of the Virgin and Child, known as the ” Virgin of the Pillar The “Virgin of the Pillar” has been returned to its rightful place in the Paris cathedral, which is due to reopen on December 7 and 8.