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Notre Dame translates as "Our Lady" from French.
Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned
the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of
naturalism and give them a much more secular look that was severely lacking from earlier
Romanesque architecture.
Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress.
Although the building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around
the choir and nave, after the construction began and the thinner walls grew ever higher,
stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward.
At the end of the 18th century, during the French Revolution, many of the treasures of the
cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. The statues of biblical kings of Judea
were beheaded. And in a nearby excavation in 1977 many of the heads were found
and are now on display at the Musee de Cluny.
Only the great bells avoided being melted down, and the cathedral interior was used as a
warehouse for the storage of forage and food.
Construction of the Notre Dame
In 1160, Bishop Maurice de Sully deemed the current Parisian cathedral unworthy of its
lofty role, and had it demolished shortly after he assumed the title of Bishop of Paris.
According to legend, Bishop Maurice de Sully had a vision of a glorious new cathedral for
Paris, and sketched it in the dirt outside the original church. But in order
to begin the construction, the bishop had several houses demolished and had a new road
built in order to transport materials for the new church.
Construction began in 1163, during the reign of King Louis VII, and opinion differs as to
whether Bishop Maurice de Sully or Pope Alexander III laid the foundation stone of the
cathedral, however, they were both at the ceremony. Bishop de Sully went on to devote most
of his life and wealth to the cathedral's construction prior to his death in 1196.
By the time of his death, the apse and the choir had been completed and the year Bishop de
Sully died the Nave was also completed.
It was in the year 1200 that work began on the western façade, and over the construction
period, numerous architects worked on the site, as is evident by the different styles at
different heights of the west front and towers. Between 1210 and 1220, the fourth
architect oversaw the construction of the level with the rose window and the great halls
beneath the towers.
The towers were completed around 1245, and the whole cathedral was completed around 1345.
Damage and Restoration of the Notre Dame Cathedral
In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged features of the cathedral following the Council of
Trent.
During the reign of King Louis XIV and King Louis XV, at the end of the 17th century, the
cathedral underwent major alterations as part of an ongoing attempt to modernize
cathedrals throughout Europe. Stained glass windows and even tombs were destroyed,
however, the north and south rose windows of the Notre Dame were spared this fate.
In 1845 a restoration program was initiated and was overseen by two architects named
Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus and Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. The restoration lasted 25 years
and included the construction of a fleche, which is a type of spire.
During the Paris Commune in 1871, the cathedral was nearly burned by the Communards and
there are some accounts that suggest a huge mound of chairs were set on fire in its
interior, but the Notre Dame survived the Commune essentially unscathed.
Following the start of World War II, it
was feared that German bombers could destroy the stained glass windows and as a result, on
11 September 1939, they were removed and restored at the end of the war.
In 1991, a major program of maintenance and restoration was initiated, which was intended
to last only 10 years, but the cleaning and restoration of old sculptures is such a
delicate procedure that it has taken far longer than previously predicted.
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