Paris:
The bells of Notre Dame in Paris rang out collectively on Friday for the primary time since a 2019 hearth that devastated the historic cathedral, AFP reporters mentioned.
The sound of the eight bells in Notre Dame’s northern belfry got here a month earlier than the cathedral is to reopen following 5 years of painstaking restoration work within the wake of the blaze.
“It is a lovely, necessary and symbolic step,” mentioned Philippe Jost, who runs the general public physique tasked with restoring the cathedral beneath difficult circumstances.
On the night of April 19, 2019 Parisians and the world watched in horror as flames ravaged the world heritage landmark after which toppled its spire.
President Emmanuel Macron shortly set the formidable objective to rebuild Notre Dame inside 5 years and make it “much more lovely” than earlier than.
Some 250 firms and tons of of specialists have been mobilised for a restoration costing tons of of tens of millions of euros.
Friday shortly earlier than 10:30 am (0930 GMT), the bells sounded one after the other till all eight chimed in concord.
“It is not excellent but, however we are going to make it excellent,” mentioned Alexandre Gougeon who’s in control of the re-installation of the bells. “This primary take a look at was successful.”
The 2019 hearth destroyed a part of the northern belfry, requiring it to be restored and the bells to be eliminated, cleaned of mud and lead, after which returned to their house.
The heaviest bell, referred to as “Gabriel”, weighs over 4 tonnes, and the lightest, “Jean-Marie”, 800 kilogrammes.
A weekend of ceremonies is to mark Notre-Dame’s reopening on December 7 and eight.
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