Washington, D.C. Newsroom, 08 November, 2024 / 1:40 pm (ACI Africa).
The bells of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris have rung for the first time since April 2019, when a devastating fire broke out in the spire and roof of the historic French church.
Notre-Dame of Paris passed the major milestone today at about 10:30 a.m., just one month away from its highly anticipated reopening on Dec. 8. Housed in the northern belfry of the cathedral — which had been partially destroyed by the fire — the bells rang out one at a time, then sounded out together, according to AFP.
The bells of Notre Dame in Paris rang out together on Friday for the first time since a 2019 fire that devastated the historic cathedral, AFP reporters said.https://t.co/P7BQwDtrLZ pic.twitter.com/zvjTbnlvsP
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 8, 2024
Though authorities have not determined whether the fire was an accident, an initial investigation found that it could have been caused by an electrical malfunction.
French President Emmanuel Macron immediately announced his intention to repair the cathedral within five years and even called for alternative contemporary proposals to reconstruct the church. For a brief period, debates swirled over whether the French government would sanction such an update instead of preserving Notre Dame’s original character.
