First “Gabriel”, all four tons of it, tolled, then seven more bells in descending order to “Jean-Marie”, a mere 800 kilos. After five years of silence since the devastating 2019 fire, the bells of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris were ringing again, testimony to an extraordinary like-for-like reconstruction programme ordered by France’s President Emmanuel Macron as the fire’s embers were still smouldering. The iconic voice of Paris has been restored.
Macron had hoped the reopening would coincide with the summer’s Olympics but the monumental task overran slightly and next month’s ceremony was appropriately heralded by Friday’s final testing of the eight of the cathedral’s 20 bells which have been restored.
The fire had destroyed the entirety of Notre-Dame’s attic, melted the roof’s lead sheath and seriously endangered the stability of the stone structure. It consumed the oak framework of the nave, choir, and transept which burned like logs in a fireplace as the horrified population of Paris looked on. And the spire collapsed. But the cathedral did not fall and, miraculously, no stained glass windows were damaged and no artwork was destroyed, except one altar.
Notre Dame was first completed in 1345, after almost two centuries of construction. Its transept and spire were restored substantially in the 19th century.
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The rebuild was a Herculean task, honouring the medieval builders’ techniques and materials, devouring entire forests, while more than 450,000 square feet of stone surfaces darkened by soot, dust and lead particles, had to be cleaned. Even the great organ, clogged with lead dust, needed all 8,000 pipes and 115 stops dismantled and sent to three different workshops .
Some 250 companies and hundreds of experts were mobilised for a restoration costing in excess of €750 million so far, largely funded by private donations, and to an ambitious Macron schedule that few believed would be met. It will be a lasting legacy to an otherwise unpopular president.
First “Gabriel”, all four tons of it, tolled, then seven more bells in descending order to “Jean-Marie”, a mere 800 kilos. After five years of silence since the devastating 2019 fire, the bells of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris were ringing again, testimony to an extraordinary like-for-like reconstruction programme ordered by France’s President Macron as the fire’s embers were still smouldering. The iconic voice of Paris has been restored.
Macron had hoped the reopening would coincide with the summer’s Olympics but the monumental task overran slightly and next month’s ceremony was appropriately heralded by yesterday’s final testing of the eight of the cathedral’s 20 bells which have been restored.
The fire had destroyed the entirety of Notre-Dame’s attic, melted the roof’s lead sheath and seriously endangered the stability of the stone structure. It consumed the oak framework of the nave, choir, and transept which burned like logs in a fireplace as the horrified population of Paris looked on. And the spire collapsed. But the cathedral did not fall and, miraculously, no stained glass windows were damaged and no artwork was destroyed, except one altar.
The rebuild was a Herculean task, honouring the medieval builders’ techniques and materials, devouring entire forests, while more than 450,000 square feet of stone surfaces darkened by soot, dust and lead particles, had to be cleaned. Even the great organ, clogged with lead dust, needed all 8,000 pipes and 115 stops dismantled and sent to three different workshops .
Some 250 companies and hundreds of experts were mobilised for a restoration costing in excess of €750 million so far, largely funded by private donations, and to an ambitious Macron schedule that few believed would be met. It will be a lasting legacy to an otherwise unpopular president.
Notre Dame was first completed in 1345, after almost two centuries of construction. Its transept and spire were restored substantially in the 19th century. Its revival in five years is an extraordinary achievement.