Notre Dame gets makeover for 850 anniversary in 2013

The cathedral, thanks to the 6.5 million euros in donations, has started an operation to ''keep up with time,'' explains the 'Notre-Dame de Paris 2013 Association'. The most important project is the replacement of the cathedral's bells. The existing bells were added in 1856 and are no longer ''living up to the cathedral's reputation." 

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris [Credit: ANSAmed]

The Notre Dame was consecrated in 1163 and has seen the crowning of many kings and emperors and funerals of heads of state. It is visited by around 14 million tourists per year and is the centre of Catholicism in France. The old bells will be replaced by eight new ones, made in the smelting works of Villedieu-les-Poeles, in the north of France. 

The goal is to recreate the way the bells sounded in the 17th century, in 1686, lost in the French Revolution, when they were taken an melted, like those of most churches in France at the time. But one bell in the south tower, called 'Emmanuel', is the only survivor and still has the original sound. 

The cathedral's large organ will be completely restored. Its information system will be changed and its 12,000 pipes, some from medieval times, will all be cleaned. A new and more ecological lighting system, using led illumination, has already been installed. It sheds new light on parts of the cathedral that have remained in the dark up to now. 

The objects and silverware used for liturgical rites, as well as all tapestries, are also cleaned for the important anniversary. 

Source: ANSAmed [March 16, 2012]