Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris Paris : Paris Tourism

Place du parvis de Notre Dame 75004 Paris Timetable: Opens everyday from 8 a.m. to 6.45 p.m. closes on Saturday from 12.30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Located at the heart of Paris « Notre Dame » is the witness of Christian fervor and of Gothic architecture from the Middle-Ages. The first part of the cathedral is from the IVth century. The episcopal city contained the house of the bishop and the baptistery. Around 1160 the bishop Maurice de Sully decided to build a new cathedral in the place of the existing one. Three anonymous architects handled the project which was finished in 1330. At the end of the Middle Ages, illiteracy was still strong, which is why stories of the Bible are represented on its gates, paintings and stained glass windows. The inside part of the cathedral had been completely changed in order to let the sunlight come in, as is the tradition of the bright Gothic. An arrow is placed at the crossing of the transept for the same reason. During the Revolution many cathedrals were pillaged and Notre Dame was one of them. The people of France thought the Kings of Judah to be the symbols of the Kings of France, and removed the statues on the outside walls and on the gates. Victor Hugo’s novel “Notre Dame” is an ovation to the cathedral and gave the people a new enthusiasm for the Middle-Ages. The chief commissioner Haussman decided the renovation and named Viollet-le-duc as architect. The renovation involved the construction of the actual parvis and a new Hotel-Dieu hospital. The sacristy was raised in the location of the archbishop’s palace. Today this place is one of the most touristic sites in Paris and people come to see this witness of past centuries guarded by its gargoyles.