after the Stade de France, she settled permanently at Notre-Dame
The success of the Paris Olympic Games gave hope that a lasting legacy, anchored in the history of France, will be visible after the event. It’s done: the Olympic bell was installed in the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, this Thursday, November 7, 2024. It will be accompanied by two other bells.
They were welcomed on their arrival on the square by Monsignor Oliver Ribadeau Dumas, the rector of Notre-Dame Cathedral, and by Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee.
Engraved with the Paris 2024 emblem, the Olympic bell will help preserve part of the Olympic spirit in the heart of Paris, in one of its most emblematic monuments. “Thus, the sound of Olympic victory will be heard in the city for decades to come,” enthuses the Paris 2024 organizing committee on its website.
From rugby to athletics, a bell that celebrates victory
His role during the Olympics was noticed by spectators and television viewers. But also by the athletes who make it an unmissable photo spot! We heard it tinted for the first time, on Saturday July 27, 2024, after the victory of Antoine Dupont’s Blues in rugby 7. Then, throughout the Olympic Games, it was regularly activated by the champions to celebrate their sporting victory. Notably by the American sprinter Noah Lyles who won the final of the 100 meters, the queen distance of athletics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
A strong link between the sporting world and French cultural heritage
Still under construction, since the fire of April 2019, the choice of Notre-Dame as the final destination of the bell is not insignificant. It fits perfectly into the process of rebirth of the monument. “Paris 2024 contributes, in a certain way, to the reconstruction of Notre-Dame. Part of the Games and the Olympic spirit will remain for life at Notre-Dame,” assured Pierre-André Lacout, Cluster Manager at the Stade de France, on the Paris 2024 website.
On the occasion of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Catholic Church of Paris launched the “Holy Games” with the aim of building a bridge between sport and religion, with common virtues and values.
The Olympic bell was custom-made by the Cornille Havard foundry, located in Villedieu-les-Poëles (Manche). It is this same company that restored the prestigious bells of Notre-Dame de Paris.
To hear it ring again, after the Olympic and Paralympic Games, head to Notre-Dame de Paris, from December 8, during the long-awaited reopening of the cathedral.
