Notre-Dame de Paris
In 1163, Bishop Maurice de Sully laid the cornerstone for a new cathedral on the Île de la Cité. The project began with the construction of the choir and its two ambulatories. By 1177, Robert of Torigni recorded that the choir was completed. Cardinal Henri de Château-Marçay consecrated the high altar on the 19th of May 1182. The second phase involved building four sections of the nave behind the choir. This work continued until around 1190 when the bases of the façade were put in place. The first traverses were completed shortly after. In 1185, Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem called for the Third Crusade from the still-incomplete cathedral. Louis IX later deposited relics including the crown of thorns into the structure during the Sainte-Chapelle construction. The western façade was largely built by the mid-1240s. Between 1225 and 1250, the upper gallery of the nave was constructed along with the two towers on the west façade. Jean de Chelles added a gabled portal to the north transept topped by a spectacular rose window in the late 1240s. Pierre de Montreuil executed a similar scheme on the southern transept starting from 1258. Master builders like Jean le Bouteiller succeeded each other in the construction of the cathedral. Jean le Bouteiller replaced Raymond du Temple on his death in 1363.
During the French Revolution in 1790, the Revolutionary Paris Commune removed all bronze, lead, and precious metals from the cathedral to be melted down. The cathedral was rededicated in 1793 to the Cult of Reason and then to the Cult of the Supreme Being in 1794. Many treasures were either destroyed or plundered during this period. The twenty-eight statues of biblical kings located at the west façade were mistaken for statues of French kings and were beheaded. Many of these heads were found during a 1977 excavation nearby and are now displayed at the Musée de Cluny. For a time, the Goddess of Liberty replaced the Virgin Mary on several altars. All large statues on the façade except the statue of the Virgin Mary on the portal of the cloister were destroyed. The cathedral came to be used as a warehouse for the storage of food and other non-religious purposes. In 1793, the great bells escaped being melted down. Napoleon Bonaparte restored Notre-Dame to the Catholic Church with the Concordat of 1801, finalized on the 18th of April 1802. Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine made quasi-Gothic modifications to Notre-Dame for the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the French within the cathedral. The building's exterior was whitewashed and the interior decorated in Neoclassical style.
In 1831, Victor Hugo wrote the novel Notre-Dame de Paris to save the decaying structure from demolition. The book raised awareness of the cathedral's deteriorating state and became an enormous success. Anti-Legitimists plundered Notre-Dame's sacristy in the same year the novel was published. King Louis Philippe ordered that the church be restored in 1844. Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc were appointed architects after Étienne-Hippolyte Godde was dismissed. Viollet-le-Duc submitted a budget of 3,888,500 francs which was reduced to 2,650,000 francs for restoration and construction of a new sacristy building. This budget was exhausted in 1850, and work stopped as Viollet-le-Duc made proposals for more money. In total, the restoration cost over 12 million francs. One of the items added was a taller and more ornate flèche to replace the original 13th-century flèche removed in 1786. The decoration included a bronze roof statue of Saint Thomas that resembled Viollet-le-Duc. Master glassworkers meticulously copied styles of the 13th century as written about by art historians Antoine Lusson and Adolphe Napoléon Didron. During the Paris Commune of March through May 1871, Communards targeted the cathedral for destruction but abandoned their plan since it would also destroy the neighboring Hôtel-Dieu hospital filled with hundreds of patients.
On the 26th of August 1944, General Charles de Gaulle celebrated the Liberation of Paris from German occupation with a special Mass at Notre-Dame. The cathedral suffered some minor damage from stray bullets during the liberation. Some medieval glass was damaged and replaced by glass with modern abstract designs. In 1963, culture minister André Malraux initiated cleaning of the façade to mark the 800th anniversary of the cathedral. The stone masonry had deteriorated due to increased air pollution in Paris which accelerated erosion of decorations. A decade-long renovation programme began in 1991 and replaced much of the exterior while retaining authentic architectural elements. On the 19th of January 1969, vandals placed a North Vietnamese flag at the top of the flèche. Paris Fire Brigade Sergeant Raymond Belle cut the flag from the flèche in a helicopter mission, the first of its kind in France. Philippe Petit walked across a tight-rope strung between Notre-Dame's two bell towers on the 26th of June 1971 entertaining spectators. The Requiem Mass of François Mitterrand was held at the cathedral on the 11th of January 1996. Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, former archbishop of Paris and Jewish convert to Catholicism, had his Requiem Mass held in Notre-Dame on the 10th of August 2007.
On the 15th of April 2019, the cathedral caught fire destroying the flèche and the forest of oak roof beams supporting the lead roof. The fire broke out in the attic at 18:18 according to investigators. Smoke detectors signaled the fire to a cathedral employee who did not summon the fire brigade but instead sent a guard to investigate. The guard went to the wrong location and reported there was no fire. About 15 minutes later the error was discovered and the guard's supervisor told him to go to the correct location. The fire brigade was still not notified until 18:51 after the guard returned from the attic and reported a now-raging fire. By the time firefighters arrived, more than half an hour had passed since the alarm began sounding. The cathedral's flèche collapsed at 19:50 bringing down 750 tonnes of stone and lead. Firefighters inside were ordered down. The fire spread to the north tower where the eight bells were located. A team of 20 firefighters climbed the narrow stairway of the south tower and crossed to the north tower to spray water on the fire beneath the bells. By 21:45 they brought the fire under control. The main structure remained intact while firefighters saved the façade, towers, walls, buttresses, and stained-glass windows. The Great Organ with over 8,000 pipes built by François Thierry in the 18th century was also saved but damaged by water.
Immediately after the fire, President Emmanuel Macron promised that Notre-Dame would be restored and called for work to be completed within five years. An international architectural competition was announced to redesign the flèche and roof. In October 2019, the French government announced that the first stage of reconstruction stabilizing the structure against collapse would last until the end of 2020. The first task involved removing 250, 300 tonnes of melted metal tubes which could have fallen onto the vaults. This began in February 2020 and was completed in November 2020. Wooden support beams were added to stabilize flying buttresses and other structures. In February 2021, selection of oak trees to replace the flèche and roof timbers began. A thousand mature trees were chosen from forests of France each with a diameter of one meter and height of 24 meters. Once cut, the trees had to dry for 12 to 18 months. On the 18th of September 2021, public agency overseeing the cathedral stated safety work was complete and reconstruction would begin within a few months. The new flèche was put in place on the 16th of December 2023. A new gilded cockerel sculpture designed by architect Philippe Villeneuve was installed containing relics from the old flèche as well as names of two thousand people who participated in reconstruction. The cathedral reopened on the 7th of December 2024 in a ceremony presided over by Laurent Ulrich attended by 1,500 world leaders including US President-elect Donald Trump.
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Common questions
When was the cornerstone of Notre-Dame de Paris laid?
Bishop Maurice de Sully laid the cornerstone for a new cathedral on the Île de la Cité in 1163. The project began with the construction of the choir and its two ambulatories.
What happened to Notre-Dame de Paris during the French Revolution?
During the French Revolution in 1790, the Revolutionary Paris Commune removed all bronze, lead, and precious metals from the cathedral to be melted down. The cathedral was rededicated in 1793 to the Cult of Reason and then to the Cult of the Supreme Being in 1794.
Who wrote the novel that saved Notre-Dame de Paris from demolition?
Victor Hugo wrote the novel Notre-Dame de Paris in 1831 to save the decaying structure from demolition. King Louis Philippe ordered that the church be restored in 1844 after the book raised awareness of the cathedral's deteriorating state.
How did the fire start at Notre-Dame de Paris on the 15th of April 2019?
The fire broke out in the attic at 18:18 according to investigators when smoke detectors signaled the fire to a cathedral employee who did not summon the fire brigade but instead sent a guard to investigate. The guard went to the wrong location and reported there was no fire before the error was discovered about 15 minutes later.
When did Notre-Dame de Paris reopen after the 2019 fire?
The cathedral reopened on the 7th of December 2024 in a ceremony presided over by Laurent Ulrich attended by 1,500 world leaders including US President-elect Donald Trump. A new gilded cockerel sculpture designed by architect Philippe Villeneuve was installed containing relics from the old flèche as well as names of two thousand people who participated in reconstruction.