Notre-Dame-de-Paris: “It’s a great step…” The bells ring out for the first time the fire of 2019

1 month before the inauguration and opening to the public, an important milestone has been reached at Notre-Dame-de-Paris Cathedral. The eight bells of the north belfry rang out this Friday morning. They rose one by one, powered by motors, until they formed a harmonious ballet. It was the first time that the bells rang out again, 5 years after the terrible fire that struck the building. Individual bell-by-bell trials were organized on Thursday.

“It’s a beautiful, important, symbolic step,” greeted Philippe Jost, head of the public establishment responsible for the restoration of the cathedral. “All the bells together, it’s the first time” since the fire of April 2019, he stressed. For his part, Alexandre Gougeon welcomes “a great outcome”: “Everything is not yet perfect. We are going to resolve this to perfection but this first attempt is conclusive”, declared, moved, this manager of the Gougeon company, head project for the refitting of the bells for the ATC group.

During the fire of April 15, 2019, the flames reached part of the north belfry of the building, which had to be restored. The eight bells housed in this tower had to be carefully removed, cleaned of lead dust and restored before returning to their original setting.

Each bell has the name of a personality

From “Gabriel”, and its more than four tonnes, to the smallest “Jean-Marie” (approximately 800 kg), named in homage to Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris from 1981 to 2005, these eight bells bear the name of personalities who have marked the life of the diocese and the Church. The other six bear the names of Anne-Geneviève, Denis, Marcel, Étienne, Benoît-Joseph and Maurice. They returned to Notre-Dame in mid-September during a small ceremony and were blessed on the occasion.

The inauguration of Notre-Dame-de-Paris will be organized on Saturday December 7 in the presence of the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich, Emmanuel Macron and many guests. A first mass, during which the new altar will be blessed, will take place the following day, Sunday December 8, 2024. Details of the opening ceremony will be provided next week.