Notre Dame is one of the most recognisable buildings on the face of the planet. Recently a fire destroyed most of it!
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about this famous sight!
- Notre-Dame de Paris means “Our Lady of Paris”
- Often referred to simply as Notre-Dame
- It is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France
- The cathedral is considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture
- Its innovative use of the rib vault and flying buttress
- Its enormous and colourful rose windows
- And the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style
- The cathedral was begun in 1160 under Bishop Maurice de Sully
- It was largely complete by 1260
- Though it was modified frequently in the ensuing centuries
- In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the French Revolution
- Much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed
- In 1804, the cathedral was the site of the Coronation of Napoleon I as Emperor of France
- And witnessed the baptism of Henri, Count of Chambord in 1821
- And the funerals of several presidents of the Third French Republic
- Popular interest in the cathedral blossomed soon after the publication, in 1831, of Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
- This led to a major restoration project between 1844 and 1864
- Supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
- Who added the cathedral’s iconic spire
- The liberation of Paris was celebrated within Notre-Dame in 1944 with the singing of the Magnificat
- Beginning in 1963, the façade of the cathedral was cleaned of centuries of soot and grime
- Returning it to its original colour
- Another cleaning and restoration project was carried out between 1991 and 2000
- The cathedral is one of the most widely recognized symbols of the city of Paris
- And the French nation
- As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the cathedra of the Archbishop of Paris (Michel Aupetit)
- 12 million people visit Notre-Dame annually
- Making it the most visited monument in Paris
- While undergoing renovation and restoration, the cathedral caught fire on 15 April 2019
- And sustained significant damage
- Including the destruction of the spire
- And two-thirds of the roof
- French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Notre-Dame will be rebuilt
- Stating “It’s part of the fate, the destiny of France, and our common project over the coming years. And I am committed to it.”
- The two towers are sixty-nine metres high
- And were the tallest structures in Paris until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1889
- The towers were the last major element of the cathedral to be constructed
- The south tower was built first
- Between 1220 and 1240
- And the north tower between 1235 and 1250
- The newer north tower is slightly larger
- As can be seen when they are viewed from directly in front of the church
- The contrefort or buttress of the north tower is also larger
- The north tower is accessible to visitors by a stairway
- Whose entrance is on the north side of the tower
- The stairway has 387 steps
- And has a stop at the Gothic hall at the level of the rose window
- There visitors can look over the parvis and see a collection of paintings and sculpture from earlier periods of the cathedral’s history
- The ten bells of the cathedral are located in the south tower
- A water reservoir, covered with a lead roof, is located between the two towers
- Behind the colonnade and the gallery and in front of the nave and the pignon
- It can be used to quickly extinguish a fire
- The cathedral’s flèche (or spire) was located over the transept and altar
- It was destroyed in the April 2019 fire
- The original spire was constructed in the 13th century
- Probably between 1220 and 1230
- It was battered, weakened and bent by the wind over five centuries
- And finally was removed in 1786
- During the 19th-century restoration, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc decided to recreate it
- Making a new version of oak covered with lead
- The entire spire weighed 750 tons
- Following Viollet-le-Duc’s plans, the spire was surrounded by copper statues of the twelve Apostles
- In four groups of three
- One group at each point of the compass
- Each of the four groups were preceded by an animal symbolising one of the four evangelists
- A steer for Saint Luke, a lion for Saint Mark, an eagle for Saint John and an angel for Saint Matthew
- Just days prior to the spire’s collapse, all of the statues were removed for restoration
- While in place, they had faced outwards towards Paris
- Except one, the statue of Saint Thomas, the patron saint of architects
- Which faced the spire, and had the features of Viollet-le-Duc
- The rooster at the summit of the spire contained three relics
- A tiny piece of the Crown of Thorns, located in the treasury of the Cathedral
- And relics of Denis and Saint Genevieve, patron saints of Paris
- They were placed there in 1935 by the Archibishop Jean Verdier
- To protect the congregation from lightning or other harm
Got anything to add?