The bells, the bells! Paris' Notre Dame cathedral to get new bells The bells will be on display at the cathedral from Saturday to February 25. Then they will be hoisted to its iconic twin towers, where they will replace older bells that had become discordant. The bells are named after saints and weigh 23 tons altogether. Most were cast in a foundry in the Normandy town of Villedieu. They were blessed in a benediction ceremony by a local priest, then sent on a convoy of trucks on Thursday from Villedieu to Paris. The new bells are part of celebrations marking 850 years since the beginning of the cathedral's construction in 1163. It took nearly 90 years to build.