The iconic Notre Dame Cathedral is ringing its bells once more, five years after a devastating fire nearly destroyed the Paris landmark.
The 860-year-old Gothic structure welcomed three new bells to the northern belfry on Thursday, marking a milestone in its ambitious restoration journey toward a Dec. 8 reopening. On Friday morning, they rang.
“On Friday shortly before 10:30 a.m. Paris time, the bells sounded one by one until all eight chimed together in the cathedral’s northern belfry,” Forbes reported. The eight bells of the northern belfry — part of Notre Dame’s grand choir of 21 bronze bells — were polished to their former glory before returning to their lofty home in the tower.
Each of the three new bells contains its own story — most notably, an Olympic bell given by the Paris 2024 organizing committee. The bell rang out with every track and field victory at the Stade de France during this year’s Olympic Games and bears the inscription “Paris 2024.”
Notre Dame rector Olivier Ribadeau Dumas was gleeful over this new step in the restoration. “At the most important moment of the Mass these bells will ring, just as they did when the victor of a competition could celebrate their victory,” he said, NPR reported.
The April 2019 blaze gutted Notre Dame’s wooden framework, destroyed its 19th-century spire, and left the cathedral’s bells silent for the first time in centuries. The 15-hour blaze, which burned through the night, devastated both the structure and the spirit of the landmark, igniting a global effort to fund its revival.
French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to rebuild the cathedral within five years, an ambitious goal that has largely been met through careful planning and international support.
According to The New York Times, teams have labored intensely to source historically accurate materials and recreate the craftsmanship essential to restoring the cathedral’s medieval character. The effort has required the help of over 250 companies.
In a dedication ceremony, Mr. Dumas and Paris 2024 committee head Tony Estanguet struck each bell with a wooden mallet, consecrating them for their new role in the cathedral.
The cathedral’s new spire, too, was revealed in a ceremony earlier this year, adorned with a rooster and a phoenix as French symbols of hope and restoration.
• Emma Ayers can be reached at eayers@washingtontimes.com.
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