More than five years since a catastrophic fire destroyed large parts of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, the bells of the historic church have rung once more. On Friday morning, eight of the cathedral’s bells tolled for the first time since April 2019, according to Alexandre Gougeon, who managed their installation. “Hearing the bells ring this morning was very moving,” Gougeon said, adding that the project to install the bells had taken a year and a half. He described the ringing as “the culmination of a big project.” The eight restored bells of the cathedral’s northern belfry, which was partially destroyed in the fire, rang together Friday morning as part of a technical test before Notre-Dame’s official reopening, which is slated for next month. Three new bells were also presented to the public and installed in the cathedral on Thursday. The biggest of the bells was donated by the organizing committee of the Paris Olympics. It previously rang in the Stade de France, the country’s national stadium, when athletes won or broke records during this summer’s Olympics. “To see this bell once again is very precious to us, that it has a second life and an eternal life in the heart of Notre Dame,” said Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee. The restoration of the Notre-Dame bells represents an important milestone, as their tolling is the “most important” moment of the mass, according to Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, the cathedral’s rector. “It really celebrates the victory of love. And it’s the very sign that hope is always present,” he explained. In 2019, the 850-year-old building was engulfed by a devastating blaze, which burned for several hours. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire, though they believe it was accidental. Possible theories include that it could have been caused by a burning cigarette or an electrical malfunction, according to French prosecutors. Located on the ?le de la Cité, a small island in the Seine River in the center of Paris, the cathedral was one of the French capital’s most popular attractions and drew an estimated 13 million visitors each year. French President Emmanuel Macron promised the public that reconstruction works would be completed within five years of the blaze, and that the cathedral would be rebuilt exactly as it was. The pledged reopening date is Dec. 8. Everything is on time, according to Philippe Jost, president of the public body responsible for conserving and restoring the UNESCO World Heritage Site. (SD-Agencies) 五年前，一場大火摧毀了巴黎圣母院的大部分建筑。而今，這座歷史悠久的教堂里再度響起鐘聲。 上周五早上，自2019年4月以后，圣母院的八口鐘首次再度敲響。 負責安裝大鐘的亞歷山大?古容說：“今早聽到鐘聲令人動容。”他補充說安裝工程歷時一年半。他稱鐘聲敲響為“重大工程的高潮”。 教堂北鐘樓八口修復完好的鐘周五早上同時鳴響，是圣母院正式重新開放之前的技術測試的一部分，教堂下個月開放。 周四安裝前還向公眾展示了三口新鐘。其中最大的是由巴黎奧運會組委會捐贈的。這口鐘之前安裝在法蘭西體育場，今年夏季奧運會期間，在運動員奪金或打破紀錄時敲響。 “再次看到這口鐘對我們來說彌足珍貴，在巴黎圣母院它獲得了第二次并且是永恒的生命，”巴黎2024組委會主席托尼?艾斯坦蓋說。 教堂神父奧利維爾?里巴德歐?杜馬斯說，修復圣母院的大鐘是一個重要的里程碑，鐘聲是彌撒中“最重要”的時刻。“它慶祝了愛的勝利。 它是希望永存的標志，”他說。 2019年，這座有著850年歷史的建筑被一場毀滅性的大火吞噬，火勢持續了幾個小時。 調查人員尚未確定火災原因，盡管他們認為這是意外。 法國檢方提出的可能原因包括燃燒的煙頭或電氣故障。 位于塞納河中心塞納島上的巴黎圣母院是法國首都最受歡迎的景點之一，每年吸引近1300萬游客。 法國總統埃馬紐埃爾?馬克龍承諾公眾，重建工作將在火災后五年內完成，教堂將原樣重建。 教堂定于12月8日重新開放。 負責保護和修復這個聯合國教科文組織世界遺產遺址機構的主席菲利普?約斯特說，一切在按計劃進行。 (Translated by Debra) | 