Eight bells return to belfry of Notre Dame in Paris

Paris: Eight bells, one weighing over four tonnes, will be returned to the belfry in Notre Dame cathedral in Paris Thursday, just months before it is...

Paris: Eight bells, one weighing over four tonnes, will be returned to the belfry in Notre Dame cathedral in Paris Thursday, just months before it is due to reopen five years after a devastating fire.

Teams repairing damage from the April 15, 2019 blaze had to remove the bells -- from the largest, "Gabriel", to the smallest, "Jean-Marie" -- from Notre Dame's north tower last July to complete their work.

The bells themselves have been cleaned of lead dust thrown off by the church's burning roof and restored at a foundry in Normandy in northern France before their delivery by truck back to Paris.

Notre Dame rector Olivier Ribadeau Dumas was to bless the peal of eight bells, each named after a significant figure from the cathedral's history, later on Thursday. Heavyweight "Gabriel" weighs more than 4.1 tonnes, while the lightest, "Jean-Marie" clocks in at a dainty 782 kilogrammes (1,724 pounds).

Notre Dame has 20 bells in total, including two massive bourdons -- the largest weighing 13 tonnes -- producing the lowest notes that hang in the south tower, which are rung for major Church events such as Easter, Christmas or the death or election of a Pope.