The bells of Notre Dame tolled in Paris on Friday for the first time since the
2019 fire
that threatened to destroy the Parisian landmark.
At the time of the fire, French President Emmanuel Macron
vowed to rebuild
the iconic, 861-year-old structure within five years.
“Five years ago, a promise: to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral together,”
Macron said on X Friday
. “Today, its bells are finally ringing thanks to the extraordinary work of so many of you.”
The video accompanying Macron’s post appeared to show the installation and ringing of some of Notre Dame’s bells.
Notre Dame will reopen its doors in one month, with ceremonies and celebrations planned to begin Dec. 7.
The landmark also boasts three new bells, one of which rang at the Stade de France at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is inscribed with “Paris 2024.” The other two bells, Chiara and Carlos, are smaller, and were installed Thursday alongside the Olympic bell.
In total, there are 21 bells at Notre Dame, each of which is named for an important figure in the church.
Since the
fire on April 15, 2019
, during which flames engulfed the roof and the spire, Notre Dame’s bells have been undergoing cleaning.
Rebuilding Notre Dame
required help from skilled craftsmen
from around the globe and the use of tools — created on-site — that match those used by the original workers who built the cathedral centuries ago.
It also required 2,000 Oak trees from forests across Europe that dried for 12 to 19 months before the wood was used in the rebuild.
The ambitious project was estimated to cost $760 million. According to Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris, the public body responsible for the conservation and restoration of the cathedral, 340,000 donors from more than 150 countries donated more than $900 million to the effort.
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