French ministers have suggested charging tourists to enter Paris' world-famous Notre-Dame cathedral when it opens in December after a five-year restoration.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said she had suggested implementing a "symbolic charge" during a conversation with Paris' archbishop, with proceeds dedicated to conserving the country's religious heritage.
However, the Paris diocese has stressed that "free admission to churches and cathedrals" is an important principle for the Catholic Church in France.
"Welcoming every man and woman unconditionally" is part of the Church's "mission," wrote the diocese in a press release, adding access is "therefore necessarily free of charge".
An entry fee to Notre-Dame is a way of maintaining other religious sites in France, Ms Dati said. She noted that other countries charge similar admission prices.
"Across Europe, people have to pay to get into the most remarkable religious buildings," Ms Dati told Le Figaro yesterday.
A €5 per person charge would bring in around €75 million a year, the culture minister estimated.
"Notre-Dame would be saving every church in Paris and in France," she said.
"It would be a magnificent symbol."
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Ms Dati was backed up by her conservative colleague, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who recalled paying €5 to visit the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona.
He told France Inter that charging would be worth it if the small fee would help "save religious heritage that people may cherish whether they believe or not".
Ms Dati also suggested charging visitors from outside the European Union more to visit French national monuments and museums "to finance renovating our national heritage".
"The French public shouldn't have to pay for everything by themselves," she added.
Gutted by a fire in 2019, Notre-Dame is set to reopen on 7 December after a vast reconstruction effort.
France was the world's most visited country in 2023, according to the UN's World Tourism Organization, with around 100 million arrivals -- beating out Spain, the US, Italy, and Turkey in the top five.
