Notre Dame de Paris, Paris

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The Cathedrale is constructed on a place of the Christian basils, that replaced, in turn, an aincient Roman temple. It was started to build in 1163, and by 1200 the facade was finished, and the construction of towers proceeded down to 1245. The Cathedral got its final view almost through two hundred years.

You can watch my 3 min 02 sec Video Paris Notre Dame de Paris out of my Youtube channel.

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Although not the largest in France, the dark and austere interior of la Notre Dame de Paris is nevertheless vast. It is laid out on a Latin cross plan, measuring 128 metres in length and 48 metres in width. Despite having only three portals in the façade, there are five aisles in the interior, each topped by a rib vaulted ceiling, of which the central one rises to a height of 33 metres. The transept contains the two astonishingly large rose windows, measuring 13 metres in diameter and placed some 21 metres above floor level. Because the Cathedral took two centuries to complete, its interior contains different types of Gothic architecture. For example, the nave and ambulatory are considered early Gothic, while the transept and its rose windows are late Gothic, called "Rayonnant" and known for more intricate details. Beyond the transept is the choir, which was remodelled in the 18th century in the Baroque style. It is encircled by a double ambulatory and several radiating chapels, completed in the 13th century. Countless artistic treasures from various periods are found inside, such as the sculpture of la Pietà by Nicolas Coustou.

For more photos of the interior, take a look at the travelogue: "Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris - Interior."

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The original title of Victor Hugo’s blockbuster novel included the year, 1482. He chose that year because it was still in the Middle Ages but was a year without any outstanding historical events that might have interfered with his story.

Many of the crucial scenes of the novel take place in the upper reaches of the cathedral of Notre-Dame, up in the towers and galleries. Up there the fanatical priest Claude Frollo had his secret cubicle where he studied forbidden books about alchemy and where he received a mysterious cloaked visitor who turned out to be King Louis XI.

From up on the galleries Claude Frollo observed Esmeralda dancing and playing her tambourine in the square below, beginning his infatuation and deadly obsession with her.

Up there was where Quasimodo, the hunchback, carried Esmeralda after saving her temporarily from the hangman, and where he hid her in a secret room and supplied her with food and water. From up on the galleries Quasimodo repelled an invasion by hundreds of outlaws by pouring molten lead on them. Because he was deaf from years of bell-ringing up in the towers he didn’t understand that the outlaws were coming to save Esmeralda, not to hang her.

From a vantage point up on the galleries Claude Frollo laughed insanely as he watched Esmeralda finally being hung on the gallows below, until the horrified Quasimodo pushed him off and he fell to his death.

Second photo: In the cathedral looking up.

Third photo: The young man on this book cover is Victor Hugo in 1829 at age twenty-seven, shortly before he began writing Notre-Dame de Paris.

Fourth photo: The 14th century carvings around the outside of the choir show scenes from the life of Christ.

Fifth photo: A model shows how they built the cathedral from 1163 to 1345, using lots of muscle-power but also hand-cranked winches to help them lift the heavy stones.

Next review from January 2012: National Museum of the Middle Ages

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Notre Dame de Paris (Notre Dame Cathedral) is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral contains the cathedra (official chair) of the Archbishop of Paris.

Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in Europe. The cathedral was constructed over 200 years in different stages between 1160 to 1345. The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged. An extensive restoration program was coducted in returning the cathedral to an 'original' gothic state.

We spent half day during our Paris tour to explore this beautiful church, it's architecture & sculptures.

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Of course you have to visit this cathedral if you are in Paris. And of course it is breath taking! It is not one of the most famous cathedrals in the world for nothing! You will be in awe checking the outside and your mind will be blown away imagining the labor that went into building it and making the cathedral what it is today. And the inside is also amazing. You have to experience it in order to appreciate its beauty. The lines may be long in the spring or summer. Depending on how much time you have in Paris, it may be worth getting inside and sacrificing other "must see" on your list.

We did not visit the cathedral in late spring because the lines were 2 hours long when we got there. Knowing that we would be returning in November, we decided to save it for later. And in November the lines were non existent.

One tip: if you can, attend one of the many concerts they have here at night. You will take home a memory you will treasure for a long time. You can purchase the ticket online (as we did) or right on the spot, before the concert.

I love the concept of 'happenstance' - a chance occurrence that sometimes strangely aligns with other seemingly unrelated events. So unexpectedly encountering a statue of Charlemagne outside Notre Dame de Paris at the beginning of a trip which I had planned to end in Aachen - the city that Charlemagne raised to prominance - proved to be a perfect example of this concept.

Charlemagne is a fascinating figure who looms out of the otherwise anonymous mists of the Dark Ages. Although Charlemagne is often considered to be a German monarch, he was in fact King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, who established a vast empire covering most of Western Europe, encompassing present day France, Switzerland, the Low Countries and swathes of Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy - not bad going for a man who was barely literate and never learned to write.

Indeed there seems to have been little that Charlemagne could not do: in fact, he was even elevated to saintdom, but – unfortunately for him – was canonised by an anti Pope during the Papal Schism in the Middle Ages, so his ‘saintly status’ is not recognised by the Church today. One cannot help thinking that this unfortunate blunder would have irked such a ‘can do’ sort of individual, but since this happened several hundred years after his death, this was one of the very few outcomes that he could not influence in his own favour. In all fairness, it seems likely that the qualities that allowed him to establish and maintain the most celebrated Empire of the Dark Ages (lots of militaristic marauding, self-interested diplomacy and general meting out of harsh discipline) are unlikely to tally with the contemporary qualifications for sainthood!

For more on Charlemagne, see my Aachen travel pages.

Update (October 2011): If you're interested in Charlemagne, you may be intrigued to know - as I discovered on my last visit - that both his mother and father are buried in the necropolis at St Denis, which is the last resting place of the majority of French royalty (see my St Denis travel tip). I already knew that his father was somewhat unfortunately known as Peppin the Short but it was a revelation to discover that his mother was called Bertha Bigfoot! Since Charlemagne was renowned for his great height, one can only presume that he took after his Mum, and given the unfortunate monikers that his parents endured, he may well have considered himself fortunate to be known as Carolus Magnus, Charlemagne or just plain Charles!

It sounds like an unrealistic aspiration, but it is possible to have even Paris' most popular tourist attractions virtually to yourself if you are willing to visit out of season and/or get up early enough in the morning.

For example, the above photo was taken at 08:15 on a Sunday morning in late February, when there was scarcely a soul around, apart from a trickle of people arriving for mass at 08:30. The beauty of visiting churches early in the day is that they are almost guaranteed to be open for early mass. And of course, the very best way of appreciating the architecture and acoustics of a church is to experience it performing the function for which it was designed.

For fear of stating the obvious, visitors need to demonstrate respect when visiting during services. It is rude and disrespectful to wander around whilst the service is in progress (particularly if it is being celebrated at the main altar rather than in a side chapel), so sit quietly until the service has ended and people start to leave. Similarly, visitors who are inappropriately clothed (for example, women in short mini skirts or other revealing outfits) may be asked to cover up and/or leave.

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Notre dame is a Gothic,Catholic Cathedral on the banks of the River Seine,Paris.It is the Cathedral that contains the official chair of the Archbishop of Paris.the Cathedral Treasury houses a reliquary with the purported Crown of Thorns.It is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of gothic Architecture in not only France but Europe,and the naturelism of its sculptures and stained glass are in Contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture.
Contruction began in 1163 during the reign of Louis VII and was completed by 1208.Many important historical events have occured here including:henry VI of England crowned King of France in 1431,Mary,Queen of Scots married Francis II of France in 1558 and the Coronation of Napolean I and his wife Josephine in 1804.
Open daily 10am till 6pm,Ticket prices can vary see website at bottom of page