Bells of Notre-Dame ring for first time since 2019 fire

Moment marks milestone in the Paris cathedral’s restoration, five years after a blaze ripped through the Gothic gem, toppling its spire.

The bells of Notre-Dame Cathedral have rung out over the French capital for the first time since a fire devastated the landmark more than five years ago.

Parisians heard the chiming of the bells shortly before 10:30am (09:30 GMT) on Friday, initially sounding one by one until all eight rang in harmony for about five minutes.

“It’s not perfect yet, but we will make it perfect,” said Alexandre Gougeon, who was in charge of the reinstallation of the bells, which had been sound-checked the previous day.

The moment marked a milestone in the painstaking restoration of the 861-year-old cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site made famous around the world by Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

Considered a jewel of French Gothic architecture, the cathedral caught fire on the evening of April 19, 2019. Locals watched in horror as flames ripped through the building, destroying vast sections of its roof and toppling its spire.

President Emmanuel Macron quickly set an ambitious goal to rebuild Notre-Dame within five years and make it “even more beautiful” than before.

About 250 companies and hundreds of experts were mobilised for a restoration costing hundreds of millions of euros.

The 2019 fire destroyed part of the northern belfry, requiring it to be restored and the bells to be removed and cleaned of dust and lead before being returned to their space.

The heaviest bell, called Gabriel, weighs more than 4 tonnes, and the lightest, Jean-Marie, weighs 800kg (1,765lb).

“We all felt an intense emotion,” the cathedral’s vice rector, Guillaume Normand, said after hearing the bells chiming.

“It’s November 8, and Notre Dame is telling us: ‘I’m here, waiting for you,'” he said, calling the sounds “a signal of joy”.

A weekend of ceremonies is planned to mark Notre-Dame’s reopening on December 7 and 8.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies