Specialized workers have started the hefty task of repairing the organ from Paris's Notre-Dame cathedral after it was damaged during the 2019 fire.

They will spend years dismantling the 8,000 pipes, 109 stop knobs and five keyboards to repair France's largest instrument. 

It is so large that tuning it will take an additional six months. And it will not be played until 16 April 2024, five years after the initial fire.

Despite this time frame, the damage to the instrument was not extensive.

The organ survived the fire on 15 April 2019, but it was damaged by soot from the flames. 

"It is an absolute miracle that it has survived. An organ like this is enormous and looks indestructible, but it is actually very fragile," Olivier Latry told Europe 1 radio. He was one of the organ players at Notre-Dame before the fire.

It was also damaged by the 2019 French heatwave, as it was exposed to the elements for the first time after the roof was destroyed during the fire. 

There have been many different organs at Notre-Dame since the first one was built in the 15th century. A previous incarnation played La Marseillaise for revolutionaries during the French Revolution. The song eventually became the country's national anthem.

This most recent version of the organ was built in 1867 and it was used during a service for the victims of the 2015 Paris terrorist attack.   

Philippe Lefebvre, another cathedral organist, described listening to this organ as magical: "There is some kind of magic between this instrument and the place ... it makes the stones sing."

France's President Emmanuel Macron said he wants Notre-Dame to be open to the public in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Video editing: Natália Luz