It is a sound that had not been heard for more than five years, in the Saint-Michel district: this Friday, November 8, the eight bells of the north belfry of Notre-Dame de Paris rang out, a first since the fire which had ravaged a large part of the cathedral on April 15, 2019. A little before 10:30 a.m., the bells restored in a Norman foundry rang, one by one, activated by motors, reports AFP. According to Philippe Jost, president of the public establishment Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, project owner of the site, “It’s a beautiful, important, symbolic step. All the bells together, it’s the first time.”
A first test before reopening
If the bells rang this Friday, one month before the reopening of the cathedral scheduled for next Saturday, December 7, it’s actually to do a first test, to see how these bells work. “Everything is not perfect yet, we will resolve it perfectly, but this first test is conclusive“, declared to AFP Alexandre Gougeon, project manager for the replacement of bells for the ATC group. Individual tests had already been carried out bell by bell on Thursday November 7. Furthermore, the Paris 2024 bell which was at the Stade de France for the Olympic and Paralympic Games was installed at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Thursday November 7 also, accompanied by two other smaller bells.
During the fire of April 15, 2019, the flames reached part of the north belfry of the building, which had to be restored. To do this, the eight bells housed in this tower were therefore carefully removed, cleaned of lead dust and restored in a Norman foundry in Villedieu -les-Poêles (Manche), before returning to their initial setting. From “Gabriel”, and its more than four tonnes, to the smallest “Jean-Marie”, which weighs around 800 kilos, named in homage to Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris from 1981 to 2005, these eight bells carry the names of personalities who have marked the life of the diocese and the Church. They returned to Notre-Dame in mid-September during a small ceremony and were blessed on occasion.
