Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A new bell set for Notre-Dame cathedral has been displayed for the past month in Paris, France. (Photo by Chesnot) T he bells of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris pealed this morning for the first time since a 2019 fire devastated the 855-year-old church. It’s the realization of French President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitious promise to restore Notre Dame within five years and make it “even more beautiful” than before.
On the evening of Monday, April 15, 2019, a fire broke out in Notre Dame Cathedral, which has stood on Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine River, for nearly a millenium. The blaze quickly spread to the wooden roof, causing extensive damage. Horrified Parisians and tourists looked on, many with tears in their eyes, as Notre Dame’s iconic spire—known in France as “la flèche,” or arrow—collapsed into the inferno.
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, a month before the world heritage landmark is slated to reopen on December 8.
The project was quickly embraced by people around the world. The restoration is estimated to cost more than $1 billion, funded through donations from both private individuals as well as corporations such as Apple and Disney. A reported $215 million was donated by the family of billionaire Bernard Arnault , currently the fifth wealthiest person in the world an.
