At Notre-Dame de Paris, the first sounds of bells since the fire of April 2019

HERITAGE – They are survivors of the disaster. The eight bells of the north belfry of Notre-Dame de Paris, which is preparing to reopen, rang out this Friday, November 8, more than five years after the fire which ravaged the cathedral, as you can see in the video at the top of the article.

Shortly before 10:30 a.m., the bells rang out one by one, driven by motors – and not Quasimodo… – until they formed a harmonious ballet. “It’s a beautiful, important, symbolic step”greeted Philippe Jost, head of the public establishment responsible for the restoration of the cathedral, who also attended this premiere.

“All the bells together, it’s the first time” since the fire of April 2019, he stressed, less than a month before the reopening of the cathedral, scheduled for December 7.

“Everything is not perfect yet. We are going to fix this perfectly but this first try is conclusive”declared, moved, Alexandre Gougeon, from the Gougeon company, project manager for the refitting of the bells, greeting “a great outcome”. Individual bell-by-bell tests were conducted on Thursday.

Survivors of the fire

This sound signal marks a further step in the resurrection of one of the largest cathedrals in the West, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, and one of the most visited monuments in Europe.

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

Of « Gabriel »and its more than four tons, at 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 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 this occasion.

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