The eight bells of the north bell tower of Notre-Dame de Paris, which will reopen its doors on December 7, rang on Friday, November 8, more than five years after the fire that devastated the cathedral.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m., the bells, powered by motors, began to ring one by one. “It is a beautiful, important and symbolic step”welcomed Philippe Jost, head of the public institution in charge of the restoration of the cathedral, who attended the premiere. “All the chimes together, it’s the first time” since the April 2019 fire, he stressed, less than a month before the cathedral reopened.
“Not everything is perfect yet. We are going to solve this perfectly, but this first attempt is conclusive”For his part, declared Alexandre Gougeon, responsible for the ATC group bell renovation project, greeting “a great result”. Bell-by-bell individual testing took place on Thursday.
This sound signal marks another step in the resurrection of one of the largest cathedrals in the West, listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO, and one of the most visited monuments in Europe.
During the fire on April 15, 2019, flames reached part of the building’s north bell tower, which had to be restored. To this end, the eight bells housed in this tower were carefully removed, cleaned of lead dust and restored before returning to their original location.
From Gabriel, which weighs more than 4 tons, to the smallest (approximately 800 kg) called Jean-Marie, in homage to Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris from 1981 to 2005, the eight bells are named after personalities who They marked the life of the diocese and the Church. They returned to Notre-Dame in mid-September, during a small ceremony and on this occasion they were blessed.
