Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris (France)
N 48° 51.192 E 002° 20.939
31U E 452243 N 5411341
Cathedral of Notre-Dame is not the largest cathedral in the world, but might be the most famous of all cathedrals. This masterpiece of Gothic architecture is located on the Île de la Cité, a small island in the medieval heart of the city of Paris.
Waymark Code: WM6FZF
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 05/28/2009
Views: 198
The site of the Notre-Dame is the cradle of Paris and has always been the religious center of the city. The Celts had their sacred ground here, the Romans built a temple to worship Jupiter. A Christian basilica was built in the 6th century and the last religious structure before the Notre-Dame construction started was a Romanesque church.
Bishop Maurice de Sully started the construction in 1163. The Cathedral was to be built in the new gothic style and had to reflect Paris's status as the capital of the Kingdom France. It was the first cathedral built on a monumental scale and became the prototype for future cathedrals in France, like the cathedrals of Amiens, Chartres or Rheims, just to name the most famous.
It took until 1345 before the cathedral was completed, partly because the design was enlarged during construction. The result is an overwhelming building, 128 m long with two 69 m tall towers. The spire, which reaches 90 m, was added in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc. The Notre-Dame Cathedral has several large rose windows, the northern 13th century window is the most impressive. The massive window has a diameter of 13.1 m. The spectacular eastern buttresses are 15 m wide. The west side features 3 wide portals, the gallery of Kings
During the French Revolution, many of the cathedral's sculptures, gargoyles and interior was removed or demolished. Even the gallery of Kings was severely damaged. It wasn't until the 19th century before the Cathedral was fully restored by a Parisian architect, Eugène E. Viollet-le-Duc. It was restored again between 1991-2001.