Crown of Thorns returns to cathedral after reopening

An ancient relic said by some to have been placed on 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 cathedral in Paris.

The Crown of Thorns – comprising a circle of rushes encased in a crystal and gold tube – was brought back to the newly restored cathedral in a ceremony overseen by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.

The crown was acquired by King Louis IX of France in Constantinople in 1239 for 135,000 livres – nearly half France’s annual expenditure at the time.

Initially kept at the Sainte-Chapelle, it was moved to Notre-Dame’s treasury in 1806 where it remained until the fire which ripped through the 850-year-old building.

Firefighters and police officers formed a human chain to rescue the relic and other historic artefacts in the cathedral.

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

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

The ceremony marking its return was led by a procession attended by members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre – a Catholic order of knighthood.

The Crown of Thorns will be displayed for the public from 10 January, French media reports.

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

The cathedral reopened its doors to the public on 8 December, after extensive restoration works which cost a reported €700m (£582m) and involved an estimated 2,000 masons, carpenters, restorers, roofers, foundry-workers, art experts, sculptors and engineers.

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