Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

Still Standing against an October Sky

Sitting on the Île de la Cité, the Notre-Dame Cathedral has been a Gothic icon of Paris for over 850 years. It took nearly two centuries to build, and in 1991, it was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors number 14 million annually. An April 2019 fire took the spire and much of the center structure. This is how Notre-Dame, which translates to Our Lady, looked two years after that tragedy, on a grand October day. She still captivates.

The Gift that is Notre-Dame de Paris

What is it about this church that captures your imagination and affection? The human heart seeks and is inspired by beauty, truth and goodness, and all of these Notre-Dame has in plentiful supply. Author Victor Hugo set his romantic work, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, here and called the church a “symphony in stone”. It seems that there is something here for everyone and has been through the ages.

Let’s look at the purpose of this building. A previous church on the site was too small for the burgeoning Parisian population. (Fascinating fact: the ruins of a Roman temple to Jupiter were also here.) In 1160, Bishop Maurice de Sully conceived of a larger cathedral being constructed as a shrine to God. King Louis VII agreed and funded the massive undertaking, estimated at almost $1 billion in today’s dollars, for his own purpose of increasing Paris’ prominence.

While Notre-Dame is now the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris, which pays for its upkeep and employees, it is owned by the French government (as are all French churches built prior to 1905) which allows the Archdiocese its use free of charge. Notre-Dame is an architectural homage to God and the largest tourist attraction in Paris. It is also, obviously, a Catholic church. With this in mind, let’s do a brief introduction to the building itself and what goes on inside.

Architecture, Windows and Sculptures

Architecture

Bringing glory to God was another aim of Bishop Sully, and the cathedral’s magnificent architecture definitely does that. The features listed below are considered to be some of the most beautiful and sophisticated examples of their sort in the world.

Flying Buttresses: The buttresses or exterior supports help to distribute the weight of the stone vaults and roof to the outer walls, allowing the walls to be thinner and taller.
Pointed Arches: The arches, tapered at the top to allow for greater height and thinner walls, are a defining feature of Gothic architecture.
Ribbed Vaults: The stone vaults have ribs that form a network of complex decorative diagonal lines.
Rose Windows: The large circular windows are filled with intricate designs of glass, another defining feature of Gothic architecture. (More on these fantastic windows adjacent.)
Sculptural Decoration: The facade of the cathedral is covered with sculptures and other decorative elements. The most famous is the West front, with the three portals, representing the Holy Trinity, surrounded by a series of sculptures depicting scenes from the life of Christ and the saints.
Spire: The first spire, also a bell tower, of Notre-Dame Cathedral was erected in 1220. Its 1859 replacement, designed by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, was destroyed in 2019.

Windows

As mentioned earlier, the stained glass windows of Our Lady’s Cathedral are classic examples of the art form. Where to begin with these stunning windows?

Rose Windows: The most famous of Notre-Dame’s stained glass windows are the three rose windows (north, south and west), located in the transepts. These windows are circular in shape and are filled with intricate designs. The west rose window is considered one of the most famous and beautiful on earth.
Choir Windows: The choir of the cathedral is adorned with many stained glass windows, including the windows of the apse, the ambulatory, and the chapels.
Nave Windows: The nave also has many stained glass windows, including those of the clerestory and the triforium.
Transept Windows: The transept houses numerous stained glass windows as well, including those of the north transept and the south transept.

These ornate glass and lead designs all depict Bible scenes.

Sculptures

Speaking of the Bible, many of the sculptures at Notre-Dame are known as liber pauperum, a “poor people’s book”, as they illustrate Bible stories. These were critical for the faithful in times of widespread illiteracy. Church art of all kinds (windows, frescoes, paintings, etc.) was the main form of catechesis. Today, they are appreciated and loved for their high quality, beauty and inspiration as well as their storytelling. (Later, but before printed Gutenburg Bibles became available, both Protestant and Catholic churches would attach handcopied-monk-transcribed Bibles to a post, much as a phone books were affixed to telephone booths not long ago. In this way, those from all walks of life had the opportunity to access the Scriptures provided they could read.)

West Front Sculptures: The West front of the cathedral is embellished with a series of sculptures depicting scenes from the life of Christ and the saints, including the Last Judgment, the Coronation of the Virgin and the St. Anne portal.
Galerie des Chimères and Gargoyles: These sculptures, located in the spandrels of the arcade that runs along the roofline of the cathedral, depict a variety of mythical creatures, including dragons and griffins, thought by the superstitious to ward off evil spirits. The gargoyles function as rain spouts to divert water away from the building; the chimera are ornamental.
Stations of the Cross: These are a series of 14 sculptures located in the nave that show the events of Jesus’ final hours, from his condemnation to his death.
Choir and Transept Sculptures: Each of these areas has many remarkable sculptures, including statues of the 12 apostles and the four evangelists (in the Choir), and statues of the Virgin Mary and of St. Anne (in the Transept).

Mass and Relics

Mass

Prior to the fire, Notre-Dame had three Masses on weekdays and five on Sundays. For Catholics, the Mass is the highest form of prayer, one of the seven sacraments. The Holy Eucharist, which is “confected” during each Mass, is considered the source and summit of Christian Life.

Mass is a re-enactment of the Last Supper, where Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist. Catholics believe the bread and wine are consecrated on the altar to become the Body and Blood of Christ. It is an “unbloody sacrifice,” a re-presentation of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The priest acts in the person of Christ, in persona Christi, and offers the sacrifice of the Mass to God the Father, on behalf of the Church; an instrument through which Christ continues his work of redemption.

That Notre-Dame Cathedral would be and is vital to people of faith and would honor God is clear.

Relics

Just as the Mass brings Heaven to Earth, so do relics of holy people help tie us here on terra firma to the Divine. Relics normally housed at this church (and temporarily in the Louvre) include:

Crown of Thorns, placed on Jesus’ head prior to Crucifixion. (Video below.)
True Cross Fragment, from Cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Saint Denis Relic, the patron saint of Paris.
Saint Genevieve Relic, another patron saint of Paris.
Saint Marcel Relic, a 3rd-century bishop of Paris.

Many beloved treasures of Notre-Dame survived the fire, and once reconstruction is complete they and the cathedral itself will available for many more generations to learn, appreciate, love and embrace.

Now let’s look at how this Gothic-wonder church came to be.

Construction, Fire and Reconstruction

Construction began in 1163 and was completed in 1260. There were many updates over the centuries and of course, it sustained the great fire of 2019. The time-lapse video below illustrates all of this, including the blaze. Of note, while the vid’s ending speculates and imagines how the reconstructed portions will look, the powers that be eventually decided to recreate the Cathedral exactly as it was, with painstaking precision.

Work In Progress

The goal of the completion of the reconstruction is the date of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. While it may not be ready for the constant stream of tourists (anticipated to soar to 20 million a year!) at that point, they plan to have it open to celebrate Mass regularly again.

The video below explains the progress with some detail, including the art of selecting oak support beams from the forest. A short article shares that the reconstruction is on track as of January 2023.

Capturing a Moment in Time

What’s happening now? As of our 2022 visit, locals and tourists alike were milling about the currently blocked off west entrance area, taking in the Cathedral. Just as when we both visited here decades ago, we saw business people eating, families playing, lovers kissing, tourists gazing, the faithful marveling and young people posing. This iconic spot is a natural gathering point, always popular. No one seems bothered by the re-construction. It is enough to be here in the presence of Gothic greatness.

One unique thing at present is the construction barricade itself. Interestingly, a few comic strip artists writers were commissioned to interpret and explain the Cathedral, the fire and the reconstruction for the public. What they came up with is displayed on immense white panels along the reconstruction hoarding (fencing). You can see them to the right of the white tent in the adjacent photo. John’s pictures of artist Adjim Danngar’s eight-panel black-and-white strip are below. An explanation of the project, along with more photos of the colorful comics, can be found here. They have successfully captured this moment in the Cathedral’s long history.

Parisian Phoenix

Just as the Masses celebrated inside her walls, are for “the sanctification of men…and the glorification of God”, so one can say about the Cathedral itself. At her core, Notre-Dame de Paris is a human undertaking for Heavenly purposes, a believer’s delight. She is also a touristic dream, a historic icon, an artistic fantasy, an architectural wonder, a Parisian mystique and now…a rising phoenix.