Don’t Despair — They’re No Longer Under Repair
- Several major world landmarks, including Notre Dame and the Colosseum, have recently completed significant restorations.
- Barcelona's Sagrada Familia is nearing its 2026 completion, and by summer 2026, the Parthenon should be completely free of scaffolding.
- Architectural restoration is vital for preserving cultural heritage. While construction can frustrate visitors, the rewards are evident upon completion.
Some iconic sites have recently completed renovations!
We’ve all experienced the frustration of visiting a much-anticipated place, only to find it covered in tarps and scaffolding with a sign reading “Pardon our dust” — or worse, “Closed for repairs.” Imagine how visitors to New York in the mid-1980s felt when they found the Statue of Liberty completely obscured by scaffolding during a two-year restoration!
On the other hand, if you have the good fortune to arrive after renovations and repairs are complete, you may be able to see things in a whole new light. In the 1990s, when the cleaning and restoration of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel was completed and centuries of grime and soot had been removed, visitors could see the surprisingly brilliant colors of Michelangelo’s masterpiece underneath. Looking back further, iconic structures throughout Europe that had been reduced to rubble — from Warsaw’s Royal Castle to Munich’s Frauenkirche — were painstakingly rebuilt following World War II and stand today looking much as they did before the war. Closer to home, after the British burned down the President’s House in 1814, it was rebuilt and named the White House in 1817.
In just the past few years, work has been completed (or almost completed) on a handful of real architectural treasures that you can now see spiffed-up and largely obstruction-free.
The Colosseum
Notre Dame
In April 2019, Notre Dame Cathedral was nearly lost to fire. All of France rallied around an ambitious five-year rebuilding project, and donations came from around the world amounting to nearly $1 billion. Today the restored treasure has reopened to the public as an enduring symbol of Paris and the entire nation. You can read more about the project in another of our blogs, “Notre Dame Cathedral: An Encore for a ‘Symphony in Stone’.” And if you want to see the cathedral in its restored state, you can do so on many of our programs in France!
The Colosseum
Scaffolding covered much of the exterior of the Roman Colosseum from 2013 to 2016, as extensive cleaning was done to reveal the true colors of the stone. With the exterior work complete, visitors can now get an unobstructed — and more authentic — view of the stadium.
Not far away, the Trevi Fountain was scaffolded for three months in 2024 during cleaning and restoration but has now resumed its place among Rome’s most beloved icons. Many of the city’s other attractions were similarly under repair at the time in preparation for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year in 2025.
Sagrada Familia Cathedral
Sagrada Familia
Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona isn’t quite finished (please, it’s only taken 143 years — Cologne Cathedral took 632), but one very significant finishing step has just been completed. In November 2025, the central spire was set in place, officially making the cathedral the tallest church in the world at a staggering 534 feet — just over a tenth of a mile! The former recordholder was Germany’s Ulmer Münster, at 530 feet. Work on the cathedral — the brainchild of visionary architect Antoni Gaudi — will be essentially complete in 2026, when the cross atop the spire will bring its final height to 564 feet. It’s a highlight of our Best of Spain program.
Shuri Castle
Also approaching completion — slated for Autumn 2026 — is the restoration of Shuri Castle on Okinawa, which burned down in 2019 for the fifth time in its 600-year history. A UNESCO World Heritage Site like many of the other buildings mentioned here, it was an important center in the Ryukyu Kingdom that flourished from the 14th to the 19th century. Its architecture is a unique fusion of Chinese, Japanese and Ryukyuan influences.
Participant at The Parthenon
The Parthenon
The centerpiece of the Acropolis, the Parthenon — covered in scaffolding more or less continuously for the last 200 years — was briefly free of it in fall 2025, and the scaffolding will be removed permanently in summer 2026, providing an extended, unfettered view for the first time in modern history. Athens is an important stop on most Road Scholar programs in Greece, which happens to be our Campus of the Year in 2026!
These re-openings highlight the importance of preserving our heritage, and in some cases, they remind us how easily that heritage can be lost. No one likes to be met with plywood and construction cones, but if you encounter them, remember — good things are happening behind it all!
