French police stand in entrance of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, devastated by a hearth in 2019. Archive | Photograph credit score: Reuters
The bells of Notre Dame de Paris rang collectively on Friday (November 8, 2024) for the primary time because the 2019 hearth that devastated the historic cathedral.
The ringing of eight bells in Notre Dame’s north bell tower got here a month earlier than the cathedral reopened its doorways after 5 years of painstaking restoration work following the hearth.
“This can be a lovely, necessary and symbolic step,” mentioned Philippe Jost, who heads the general public physique tasked with restoring the cathedral beneath troublesome circumstances.
On the evening of April 19, 2019, Parisians and the world watched in horror as flames ravaged this world heritage website after which toppled its spire.
President Emmanuel Macron rapidly set the formidable aim of rebuilding Notre Dame inside 5 years and making it “much more lovely” than earlier than.
Some 250 firms and lots of of specialists have been mobilized for a restoration that value lots of of thousands and thousands of euros.
On Friday, shortly earlier than 10:30 a.m. (09:30 GMT), the bells rang one after the other till all eight of them rang in concord.
“It isn’t good but, however we are going to make it good,” mentioned Alexandre Gougeon, liable for reinstalling the bells. “This primary check was successful.”
The 2019 hearth destroyed a part of the north bell tower, so it needed to be restored and the bells eliminated, cleaned of mud and lead, after which returned to their house.
The heaviest bell, known as “Gabriel”, weighs greater than 4 tons, and the lightest, “Jean-Marie”, 800 kilograms.
A weekend of ceremonies will mark the reopening of Notre-Dame on December 7 and eight.
Printed – Nov 08, 2024 04:18 pm IST
