An ancient relic said to have been worn by Jesus Christ during his crucifixion has returned to Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after the relic was rescued from a fire that devastated the church.
The Crown of Thorns – which consists of a circlet of skulls encased in a crystal and gold tube – was returned to the cathedral during a ceremony overseen by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich.
The crown was purchased by King Louis IX of France in Constantinople in 1239 for 135,000 livres – almost half of France’s annual expenditure at the time.
Originally kept in Sainte-Chapelle, it was moved to the treasury of Notre-Dame in 1806 – until a massive fire engulfed the 850-year-old building in 2019.
