Hundreds of locals and tourists gathered Thursday night outside the famed Paris Moulin Rouge cabaret and nightclub to see its iconic windmill sails start turning again.

The iconic, 12-metre (40-foot), red wings had been out of action since they were knocked down by high winds 14 months ago.

The occasion was marked by 60 dancers performing the Moulin Rouge's signature can-can dance in the street next to Place Blanche in the Montmartre district of Paris.

Fireworks were also set off from the roof of the club, which claims to attract some 600,000 visitors each year.

"The sails have always turned at the Moulin Rouge, so we had to restore this Parisian symbol to Paris, to France, and to the state it was in before," said Jean-Victor Clerico, the cabaret's managing director.

What happened to the famous windmill?    

The accident in April 2024 was blamed on a failure in the windmill's central axis.

The blades collapsed overnight after the venue had closed. Nobody was injured in the incident.

New aluminum blades were installed in time for the Paris Olympics last summer.

But the wings have remained motionless because of delays with a new electric motor, which also powers the hundreds of light bulbs that illuminate the iconic landmark.

Why is the Moulin Rouge so famous?

The Moulin Rouge, French for "red windmill," was immortalized by 19th century French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and later brought to modern audiences by Baz Luhrmann's eponymous 2001 film musical starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.

Opened in 1889, the famous red windmill quickly became an emblem of Parisian nightlife during the Belle Époque (1871-1914).

The cabaret house is one of the most visited attractions in the French capital, sharing its status as a world-famous landmark with the likes of the Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Edited by: Louis Oelofse