Catholic church condemns idea of charging entrance fee when rebuilt cathedral reopens in December after five years

Weeks before its scheduled grand reopening after a devastating fire, Notre Dame has become embroiled in an escalating row over whether to charge future visitors a fee to enter the 12th-century gothic masterpiece.

France’s culture minister, Rachida Dati, proposed this week that tourists visiting the Paris cathedral, known as “the soul of France” and one of the world’s great architectural treasures, should pay a €5 entrance fee to help preserve the country’s crumbling churches.