The bells of Notre Dame will ring in Paris for the first time since the 2019 fire

French police stand in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, which was damaged by fire in 2019. File | Photo credit: Reuters

The bells of Notre Dame in Paris rang simultaneously on Friday (November 8, 2024) for the first time since the 2019 fire that devastated historical cathedral.

The eight bells of Notre Dame’s north bell tower sounded a month before the cathedral opened after five years of painstaking restoration work after the fire.

“This is a beautiful, important and symbolic step,” said Philippe Jost, head of the public body tasked with rebuilding the cathedral under difficult circumstances.

On the evening of April 19, 2019, Parisians and the world watched in horror as flames devastated the world heritage site and then brought down its spire.

President Emmanuel Macron quickly set an ambitious goal of restoring Notre-Dame within five years and making it “even more beautiful” than before.

Some 250 companies and hundreds of experts were mobilized for the restoration, which cost hundreds of millions of euros.

On Friday, shortly before 10:30 (0930 GMT), the bells sounded one after another until all eight rang in harmony.

“It’s not perfect yet, but we will make it perfect,” said Alexandre Goujon, who is in charge of reinstalling the bells. “This first test was successful.”

A fire in 2019 destroyed part of the north belfry, requiring it to be restored and the bells removed, cleared of dust and lead, and then returned to its original location.

The heaviest bell, “Gabriel,” weighs more than four tons, and the lightest, “Jean-Marie,” weighs 800 kilograms.

The weekend’s ceremonies coincide with the opening of Notre Dame on December 7 and 8.