Paris, France, May 28, 2019 / 17:01 pm
The French Senate on Monday passed a bill on the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris, the city's cathedral, adding a clause that it must be rebuilt as it was before last month's fire which destroyed its roof and spire.
The Senate approved the bill May 27, mandating that the rebuilding be faithful to Notre-Dame's "last known visual state."
The government of president Emmanuel Macron had begun an architectural competition to submit a variety of suggestions for the restoration. Macron had called for "an inventive reconstruction" of the cathedral.
The Senate also removed from the bill a clause allowing the government to override planning, environmental and heritage protection, and public tenders regulations, which would have hastened the rebuilding.