The religious statue representing St. Paul perched atop Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral descends to earth for the first time in over a century as part of a restoration, in Paris Thursday, April 11, 2019. The 16 greenish-gray copper statues, which represent the twelve apostles and four evangelists, are lowered by a 100 meter (105 yard) crane onto a truck to be taken for restoration in southwestern France. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
April 11, 2019 - 9:29 AM
PARIS - Religious statues set atop Notre Dame Cathedral have come down for the first time in over a century as part of a restoration of the monumental Paris church's towering spire.
A 100-meter-high (105-yard) crane lowered the copper statues representing the 12 apostles and four evangelists onto a truck, giving the public a ground-level look for the first time on Thursday.
The figures regular posts look over the Paris from Notre Dame's 96-meter-high peak.
The 3-meter-tall statues are being sent to southwestern France for work that is part of a 6 million-euro ($6.8 million) renovation project on the cathedral spire and its 250 tons of lead.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019